Before I Sleep: Whisper
by wildsky
Summary: Part 3. Sequel to Damage. The virus is gone, so things should be looking up, right? Wrong. Transgenics are being hunted, Familiars are on the loose and secrets are revealed! MA all the way! Chapter 52: Leave the Pieces is now up! Please read and review!
1. Fifty Seven Days

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Well, here we go again. Let's see, what've I got planned for you this time? Murder, angst, love, secrets… Ahhh, it's good to be back. Hope you enjoy the ride!

**BEFORE I SLEEP: WHISPER**

"_They're all killers. All they need is a trigger_."

**Chapter 1: Fifty-Seven Days**

**Undisclosed Location**

_One, two. One, two. Left, right. Left, right_.

Brax simply lay on his back on the cold cement floor, staring up at the ceiling with vacant brown eyes. The rhythm was as familiar to Brax as breathing.

Footsteps. They were coming for him again.

"Brax." Lydecker heard it too and grabbed hold of the bars that separated their cells. "Answer me, 813."

The transgenic didn't move. Every muscle in his body had locked and all he could hear was his blood roaring in his ears. Lydecker's hoarse voice seemed impossibly far away…

"813!" Lydecker barked, putting the full weight of twenty years of authority behind the three syllables to no avail. The transgenic didn't even blink. The Colonel gritted his teeth in frustration. One of his kids was being physically and psychologically dismantled and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.

Weeks had passed since the Familiars had taken Mole away and Brax had become more and more withdrawn, retreating into his own mind to escape the abuse. His voice had given out weeks ago. They'd cut him, burned him, broken bones and gleefully resorted to electrocution and sleep derivation later on. These reptilian bastards were thorough. Lydecker had to give them that.

_No-one can resist torture indefinitely. Not even you_.

His own words, spoken so long ago, echoed in his mind. Donald Lydecker was no stranger to war. He'd seen it over and over. It was brutal, ugly and unforgiving. No amount of training could have prepared Brax for such an ordeal and Lydecker hadn't felt such a deep-seated need for vengeance since Tinga had been killed.

Others involved with the project had always struggled to comprehend Lydecker's rather twisted paternal attitude towards the genetically-engineered killing machines they'd cooked up. They couldn't possibly understand.

"Brax." He tried again, keeping his voice pitched low this time. "Brax, can you hear me?"

Nothing. The X5 was borderline catatonic. He hadn't so much as twitched in days – not in Lydecker's company anyway. When the Familiars had first brought Brax and Mole to their cosy little prison, he hadn't looked any different than he had at Manticore when Lydecker had last seen him. His dark hair had been short and spiky, the rest of him muscular and toned in ways most ordinaries could only wish for – the epitome of the battle-ready warrior.

Now his hair was longer, oily and matted. He'd lost so much weight that his ribs were clearly visible under skin that was scarred and almost translucent after two months with no sunlight. He was a shadow of his former self.

Then the door opened and two ordinary-looking men with Caduceus brands on their skin walked in.

Cohen and Ross were unarmed, as they had been for the last two weeks. That in itself made Lydecker's blood boil. They believed without a shadow of a doubt that Brax wouldn't or couldn't resist. They thought the X5 was finished, that it was just a matter of time before his body followed his mind into death. The colonel honestly didn't know whether they were right or not. He'd never known a transgenic that wouldn't fight tooth and nail to survive, no matter how dire the circumstances might be.

Either way, Lydecker wanted Ames White's head on a plate. No one fucked with one of his kids like this and got away with it.

_No one_.

Cohen glanced down at the X5 lying on the floor where they'd dropped him the previous night and shook his head, smirking slightly.

"You know the drill, Lydecker. Back it up," Ross reminded him.

Steely blue eyes glittered menacingly but the colonel complied, moving away from the bars as Cohen unlocked the cell.

The Familiars weren't going to stop until they killed Brax. At first they'd been trying to wrest the locations of the transgenic safehouses out of him but over the last couple of weeks he'd been reduced to nothing more than a plaything. Lydecker hated to see one of his kids brought so low.

So when Cohen grabbed hold of Brax's arm with every intention of dragging him out of the cell, Lydecker thought he was imagining it. The vacant look in Brax's eyes evaporated only to be replaced by something else. Something dark, fuelled by rage and pain. Something inhuman.

That was the moment when Brax just… snapped.

A low, menacing growl and the sharp _crack_ of a neck breaking was all the warning the Familiars had. Brax threw Cohen's body aside with a snarl and leapt at Ross, hitting him squarely in the chest and propelling them both out of the cell and onto the floor.

Lydecker didn't waste a second, reaching through the bars to grab hold of Cohen's wrist and drag him closer. The keys dangled just out of reach, clipped to the Familiar's belt. He forced himself to concentrate on the task, trying to block out the sounds of Ross's death throes and the sensation of blood spraying against his skin. His fingers closed around the prize just as reinforcements burst in.

Lydecker's gaze strayed to Ross and his usually cast-iron stomach twinged.

The man's jaw had been literally torn off, leaving a gaping hole that was pumping blood onto the floor in an ever-expanding pool. He was still twitching, his eyes wide and staring.

Lydecker watched in grim silence as the animal wearing Brax's face dodged bullets and blades, tearing his opponents limb from limb in a feral rage. Not since the X2s had the colonel seen such carnage. He swallowed the bile rising in his throat and inwardly cringed as he witnessed the total, violent disintegration of one of his kids.

The Committee had once asked him how long an X5 could hold out against ongoing torture and now, finally, he had a definitive, blood-soaked answer.

Fifty-seven days.

**Forty-Eight Hours Later**

The entire building smelled like blood. The metallic odour hung heavily in the air, so potent that he could taste it.

Ames White ran his tongue across the roof of his mouth, his fingers tightening on the pistol in his hands as he crept cautiously down the corridor. Behind him, the Phalanx moved silently in his wake. The outpost had failed to make contact for over twenty-four hours and the Council had finally become alarmed enough to demand answers.

They'd already found several bodies strewn about outside, torn to pieces, and they stepped over several more as they made their way further into the complex.

White knew of only a few things on the planet that had the ability to overpower a Familiar and the desire for revenge warred with self-preservation. They hadn't spent ten thousand years creating a superior race only to be cut down by an animal.

They followed the bloodied trail, becoming more aware with each step that this could not have been an orchestrated attack. It had been a massacre; a wholesale, merciless slaughter of anything that got in the way.

When they arrived at the lowest level, where the captives were held and interrogated, White had the squash down the urge to roar in frustration. Two cells were empty, their doors standing open and White knew exactly who had occupied them.

"No survivors," Valance declared quietly.

"Sir, we found the surveillance tapes." Dawes' voice buzzed through the earpiece. "I think you should see this."

"Valance, you're with me," White said crisply, turning to leave the grisly room and join Dawes.

"Sorensen's not going to be happy about this," Valance muttered.

Ames watched the footage without saying a word, clenching his jaw angrily.

"Your orders, sir?" Dawes prompted him as he paused the tape, holding the image of the berserker X5 on the screen. Behind him, Lydecker could clearly be seen, standing calmly in his cell.

White's cold eyes held a promise of retribution.

"Find them and kill them."


	2. Reality Bites

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Voting is open at The Broken World Awards! Please, please, _please_ check it out and vote for Chimera! lol.

**Chapter 2: Reality Bites**

**Sector Three, Sandeman's Old House**

Max lay in bed, staring silently at the wall as she felt Logan's breath tickling her neck. His chest was pressed against her back, one arm wrapped snugly around her waist. He slept like that every night, holding her to him as if he was afraid she'd sneak off in the middle of the night and leave him.

Which, she was ashamed to say, she did on a regular basis.

Logan just didn't understand the whole nocturnal thing. When he went to bed, he expected her to accompany him and to wake up with her beside him. Never mind that while he was dead to the world for eight hours, she was wide awake for another six or seven and bored stupid. For the first couple of nights she'd forced herself to put up with it for his sake but her restlessness had gotten the better of her.

She could have just told him the truth, that there were a million things she could be doing instead, but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to bust his bubble. Logan was a pretty heavy sleeper. Manoeuvring her way out of his grasp without waking him wasn't much of a challenge, especially once she'd figured out which bed springs squeaked and which floorboards creaked.

Max moved cat-quietly across the room and slipped into her clothes, picking up her keys as she did so. Then with one final glance at her lover, she crept out into the darkness.

A smile curved her lips as she breathed in the crisp night air and darted across the grass to the weather-beaten old shed where her beloved Ninja was parked. She walked it up the street, not daring to start the engine in the vicinity of the house lest it disturb Logan. Only when she was about a block away did she swing her leg over the seat and turn the key in the ignition.

The reassuring purr of the engine soothed Max like nothing else in the world could and for a while she just cruised through the darkened streets of Seattle, enjoying the feel of the wind rushing by.

Things with Logan were… awkward.

When Alec had handed them the cure on a silver platter, Max's world had tilted on its axis. After months of conditioning herself to avoid any kind of physical contact with Logan, watching him pace back and forth across the living room, staring at his watch every five seconds, had seemed surreal.

And then pasta.

Of all the things in the world he could have chosen to do, he made freakin' _pasta_. Max had almost hurled.

Why did it have to be _Alec_? Why did he have to be the one to create the cure? Why couldn't it have been Dix or Luke or some other well-meaning friend who just wanted to help? It would have been so much easier. What could Alec possibly have to gain?

Max hadn't been able to come up with a single decent answer to that question, no matter how hard she tried. She'd spent days trying to convince herself that Alec never did anything that didn't benefit him somehow, even though she knew that wasn't true. Not anymore.

Before she knew it she was sitting outside one of the safehouses, staring up at the nondescript building. A few lights were burning – probably nocturnals like herself, whiling away the hours. The guards were out of sight, as they ought to be but she could feel them watching her.

With one final glance at her surroundings, Max wheeled the motorcycle inside and parked it against a wall.

"Hey, Maxie."

Max whirled, startled and horrified to realize that Alec had managed to creep up on her. Her insides clenched at the sight of him standing at the top of the first flight of stairs in a t-shirt and boxers.

"Hey, Alec," she finally replied, smiling slightly as she realized his dark blonde hair was sticking up everywhere.

"Sneaking out again, huh?" he asked knowingly, padding down the stairs to meet her.

"I didn't sneak," Max replied primly. "I walked. Quietly."

"So quietly he didn't hear you leave?" Alec baited her, folding his arms across his chest as he measured her guilty expression. "Sounds like sneaking to me."

"Shut up."

Alec simply smirked. "Come on. Kitchen's this way."

"I know where it is," Max grumbled irritably as she followed him through the darkened safehouse. Alec snapped on the light and started boiling a kettle on the portable burner as Max took a seat on one of the barstools the transgenics had 'liberated'. A few moments later he pulled a carton of milk out of the refrigerator and tossed her a bag of coffee beans.

"Where'd you score this?" Max asked, regarding the label curiously and recognizing it as one of the harder brands to acquire. She opened it up and sniffed experimentally, her expression softening in pleased surprise.

"Ask Rand. He's been getting the luxury items for us," Alec replied as he settled onto a stool on the opposite side of the counter.

"How's he doing?" she asked, handing the bag back to him.

"He's still got a couple of scars but he's making them work for him instead of against him. He didn't lose any mobility so it's just getting back into shape that's a bitch."

"Funny, I thought the bitch was his training partner," Max teased him.

"Actually, yeah," Alec said without any trace of humour. Max's smile faded a little as she took in the pensive look on his face. "Jessie hasn't really been talkin' to me much in the last couple of weeks."

"Is everything okay?" Max asked in concern but Alec just shrugged it off as he retrieved two chipped mugs from the cupboard.

"Fallon's been on her back about Quinn, that's all."

Max winced, knowing that Quinn's death was a sore point. His mate had a nasty temper and hadn't hesitated to unleash it on anyone and everyone who so much as looked at her wrong. Jess had made an enemy for life.

"She's still calling it murder, huh?" Max asked dismally.

"I think she just wants to make everyone else as miserable as she is."

"Sounds like she's off to a good start," Max observed wryly. "Has anyone else jumped on the bandwagon?"

"A couple," Alec replied with a grimace. "Rand's got it under control so far."

"Is he still playing bodyguard?" Max gave an inelegant snort. "I thought he broke out in hives if he was with a girl for more than a week."

"If he can keep Jess out of trouble, I'm not complaining," Alec replied sincerely, "and you shouldn't either."

"I'll drink to that," Max agreed wholeheartedly. Alec chuckled at her vehemence, well aware of the mercurial nature of Max and Jess' acquaintance.

"Are you using a different perfume or something?" he asked curiously.

"No. Why?" she asked, frowning slightly at the implication.

"You smell different," Alec replied, sounding a bit puzzled. "Not bad or anything, just… different."

"Since when is how I smell any of your business?" Max said sharply, his observation instantly putting her on the defensive. Alec held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Take it easy. I was just saying –"

"Well, don't say it," she snapped, her temper rising. "Especially when you could use a shower."

"I'm starting to think that caffeine isn't a good idea," Alec observed dryly. "Are you gonna calm down or should I dump the milk over your head?"

"You wouldn't dare," she said confidently as she leaned across the counter, brown eyes locking onto hazel.

"Try me," Alec replied, his trademark smirk making an appearance as he matched her stare. "Whaddya say, Maxie? Then we'll both need a shower."

It took every ounce of self-discipline Max had to stop herself from smiling at the teasing glint in his eyes. As it was, her lips twitched and Alec started laughing at her efforts. She reached across and swatted at him but he caught her wrist mid-strike and pulled her closer.

"Careful, Maxie," he admonished her gently as Max's breathing hitched at his proximity. She swallowed convulsively and forced herself to slowly relax in his grip, muscle by muscle, as if being so close to him didn't make every nerve in her body quiver.

"Let go, Alec," she whispered.

"Why'd you come here, Max?" he asked as his gaze burned into hers.

"I needed to clear my head –"

"There are twenty-two safehouses in Seattle and you could have gone to any one of them," he reminded her. "Why this one?"

Max knew the answer but she didn't dare voice it. All she could do was stare into his green-gold eyes and pray that she wasn't blushing – in embarrassment or anger, she honestly didn't know. This was why she'd avoided him for over a month. She hated that he could read her like that, that he could see right through her. He made her question everything she thought was set in stone. She searched her memory frantically for something to use to make him back off.

"How's Dee?"

The moment the words left her lips, she wished she'd kept her big, fat mouth shut. The last thing she needed was for Alec to know she'd heard about his newest female acquaintance, or worse, that she cared.

Alec released her, watching her with a trace of amusement as she sank back onto her stool, rubbing her wrist. His grip hadn't been tight or painful – just firm – so why did the skin feel like it was burning?

"She's fine," Alec replied, his voice not revealing his feelings on the subject one way or the other. "I'll be sure to pass on your concern."

"Whatever," Max shrugged when she really wanted to wipe that knowing look off his face.

She didn't know what she'd been expecting. Experience had taught her that rumours about Alec's trysts tended to be true, so it shouldn't have hurt when he didn't deny it.

But it did.

What made it worse was that she knew Dee. Until Jess had oh-so-helpfully dropped that piece of information in her lap, she'd been inclined to like the sassy X5 redhead. Now she wasn't sure whether she wanted to smile at the female or smack her in the teeth – a completely irrational, petty response that set Max's teeth on edge.

She was finally with Logan after struggling against Fate for over two years. She was happy, damn it! It wasn't any of her business if Alec moved on with his life.

With Dee.

"You know, sulking really isn't very attractive," Alec observed, bringing Max back to reality with a _thud_.

"I'm not sulking," she snapped defensively, knowing she sounded six years old.

Alec just gave her a look that clearly said 'Yeah, right' and turned to take the whistling kettle off the burner, giving Max the opportunity to glare balefully at his beautifully-muscled back. Within moments, Alec was handing her a mug of steaming coffee.

"Uh… you know, on second thought, I should probably go," Max said abruptly, glancing towards the door.

"Aw, come on, you can't let me have a caffeine hit and then bail," Alec coaxed her shamelessly. "Who's gonna keep me company until it wears off?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Max hedged but Alec summoned up a mischievous grin – the one that made Max's stomach flip – and she had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't going to make it to the door.

"I won't tell if you don't."


	3. In The Mix

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 3: In The Mix**

**Sector Nine, Safehouse Five, Sunrise**

"Wow, what happened to you?"

Alec slowly rolled over onto his back, gazing up at the pretty redhead standing over him. Dee just shook her head, her hands on her hips, watching him with a half-smile on her face.

"I pulled an all-nighter again," he groaned, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"Ouch," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Would that have anything to do with a certain nocturnal brunette sneaking out to see you again?"

Alec blinked up at her in surprise. "How the hell would you know that?"

"I heard her motorcycle pull up last night," Dee informed him matter-of-factly. "Kinda gives it away."

"Oh, that's just great," he said with a frustrated growl, raking a hand through his hair as he sat up.

"Oh, relax, no-one cares," she said dismissively, flicking her mass of copper hair back over her shoulders as she flopped down into the only decent chair in the room. "It's actually pretty sweet. No-one really likes that ordinary of hers anyway."

"Dee…" he said warningly but she just rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know, it's none of my business," she replied in a sing-song voice.

"Well, it is now. Max was asking about you," Alec told her and watched as her blue eyes sparkled.

"Was she?" she asked playfully. "Well, well… and what did you tell her?"

"I neither confirmed nor denied," Alec replied archly and Dee burst out laughing.

"I'll bet she loved that," she chortled. "Leaving it to her imagination? That's pretty low."

"Says the girl who's trying to make Jag jealous," he said, pinning her with a knowing look.

"I just said it's low, not that I wouldn't stoop to that level," she pointed out, then pouted dramatically. "Besides, the idiot hasn't even noticed yet."

"Give it a couple of days," Alec advised her. "No-one ever said subtlety was fast-acting."

"And I never said I had a lot of patience," Dee replied with a sniff, then brightened. "On the other hand, this is kind of fun – our own little covert op."

Alec grinned at her enthusiasm. "If you put half as much effort into the actual relationship as you're putting into this little plan of yours, Jag won't know what hit him."

"Damn right," she agreed with a nod, her determination a living, breathing thing. "It oughta teach him to toe the line anyway. Where does he get off ignoring me?"

Alec held his tongue, feeling rather sorry for the male in question. Most transgenics had problems with emotional intimacy and Jag was no exception. He'd fallen for Dee and promptly panicked, back-pedalling so fast it'd left her head spinning. To say she was less than impressed was the understatement of the century.

Exactly how Alec had gotten talked into participating in her little scheme was a bit of a blur. He'd always known who Dee was but he hadn't been especially chummy with her until they took up residence at the same safehouse. He'd sympathized with the redhead but hadn't been all that inclined to get involved until Jess had sidled her way into the conversation. The next thing he knew he was giving Dee pointers and his sister was nowhere to be seen.

He had to admit that Dee was interesting company – funny, sexy and a bit on the hyperactive side at times. Her moods could shift without warning though and following her train of thought was sometimes a trial.

"Dee, did you wake me up for a reason?" Alec asked, knowing that if he let her she'd just sit there and chat for hours without ever getting to the point.

"Oh! Yeah, Rand's here," she told him quickly. "Figured you'd want to see him."

"Okay, thanks," Alec replied, getting to his feet and reaching for a fresh pair of khaki trousers. "Do you mind?"

"Hey, I can take a hint," she assured him, bouncing out of the chair with an unfair amount of energy for that hour of the morning. Just as she was about to close the door, she poked her head around again and crossed her eyes at him before saying in a voice that was slightly louder than necessary: "See ya later, baby."

Alec didn't know whether to laugh or groan as he quickly got changed. Dee would undoubtedly play the role to perfection but he wasn't certain that was entirely a good idea. X5 males were territorial by nature and he really didn't want to find himself on the wrong end of Jag's anger.

He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen where, sure enough, Rand was enjoying a cup of the same coffee Alec had shared with Max only a few hours ago.

It was almost impossible to believe that barely eight weeks ago Rand had been caught in an explosion that had burned up the entire left side of his body. Only a few small scars remained where he'd suffered third degree burns and the nerves had been completely destroyed. The only visible one on his face was on his cheek, along the jaw line, but it gave him a rugged appearance rather than spoiling his good looks. Other than that, the most dramatic change was his hair. Since half of it had been a singed mess anyway, he'd shaved it all off and was now letting it grow back.

"You know you look like some hard-ass fresh outta prison, right?" Alec asked as he sat down beside his friend. Rand responded with a soft chuckle as he glanced at Alec's dishevelled hair.

"And you look like a dog on electro-shock," Rand replied with a roguish grin. "We're even."

Alec smiled, just grateful that Rand hadn't rejected his presence outright. Things between them had been strained ever since that argument after Terminal City had been destroyed but they were getting better. Alec had lost too many friends without adding Rand to the list.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Alec asked, reaching out to snatch up an apple and rub it against his shirt before he bit into it.

"Just doing the rounds," Rand replied. "Checking out the safehouses, the defences, supplies and all that stuff. I've been out of the loop until now."

"So you're finally back on active duty, huh?" Alec asked around a mouthful of fruit.

"Yeah, Sari gave me the all-clear," Rand said with a long-suffering sigh. "She put me in the ring with Jett to make sure I was fit enough. You know, I'd almost forgotten what a pain in the ass velocity models are."

"Couldn't land a hit, could you?" Alec taunted him.

"I landed a couple," Rand grumbled. "I always hated taking on velocities in training."

"Everyone did," Alec reminded him. "How do you think Jett beat Cain all those times? Not that I didn't enjoy watching that asshole getting stomped into the ground over and over."

"So I shouldn't worry about getting my ass handed to me?"

"Your ass, your pride, your call," was all Alec would say on the subject, biting into his apple a second time. "Have you seen Cleo much lately?"

As usual, the mention of Rand's daughter made the X5 smile, but there was a sadness behind it that gave Alec pause. "She didn't recognize me at first with my hair shaved off and the scars. It took her about a week before she stopped crying whenever she saw me."

Alec could easily picture Rand's dismay when the daughter he adored started crying at the sight of him. Cleo, with her fluffy chestnut hair and dark eyes, was the one female in the world that could confidently claim to have Rand wrapped around her little finger.

"She's a cute kid," Alec said with a grin. "Gonna be a heartbreaker when she grows up."

"Don't I know it," Rand snorted. "Can you imagine some cocky teenager trying to ask my daughter out? Over my dead body!"

Alec laughed outright at the image of the overprotective X5 terrorizing poor Cleo's dates. Then again, if the girl proved to be anything like her father, she'd give him hell in return and _that_ would definitely be worth seeing.

"Rand, if there's an ordinary out there with enough guts to face you, he can't be that bad," Alec added, noting the pinched look on his friend's face.

"Just wait 'til you have kids, smart ass. Then we'll see," Rand replied sagely, sipping at his coffee.

"Kids?" Alec echoed in surprise. "Me?" He guffawed at the very notion. "I don't think so."

**Sector Seven, Terminal City, Sunrise**

_So… this is Terminal City_. _Damn, they did a number on this place_.

The young man who was picking his way through the wreckage shook his head and looked down at the German Shepherd trotting by his side, tail wagging back and forth.

"Whaddya think, huh?" he asked. "Was he here when all this went down?"

The dog whined softly, looking up at his owner with soft brown eyes. With a chuckle, Zane hunkered down and gave the dog a vigorous scratching behind the ears.

"Yeah, I know. Zack'd kick our asses for coming after him, wouldn't he, boy?" He sighed and pushed his unruly dark hair away from his face, the thought of his missing brother bringing a wave of sorrow with it.

For almost a decade, he'd heard from Zack every month like clockwork, had seen him on a regular basis. Now, over a year had passed and… nothing. Even their contact number had proven useless. He'd already searched most of the coast to no avail.

His brother may have considered it his duty to protect everyone else, but Zane had always considered it his duty to look after Zack. After all, someone had to.

Back at Manticore, he had always shared that responsibility with Eva. With her gone, Zane had redoubled his efforts to stop Zack from sacrificing too much of himself for his siblings. In that, he'd failed miserably. Trying to protect Zack was rather like throwing himself in front of a speeding train – a useless, usually painful gesture that couldn't stop the inevitable anyway.

Well, the train had gone off the rails somewhere and it was high time that someone checked for survivors.

With a bark, the German Shepherd suddenly darted forward, sprinting away from his master.

"Hey! Diesel, get back here!" Zane called out but the dog ignored him, bounding happily to-and-fro amongst the rubble. With a muttered curse, Zane started jogging after him. "Diesel!"

The German Shepherd abruptly stopped and started digging, throwing up dirt and cement debris all over the place. Zane had to duck to avoid catching some of it in the face.

"Hey, easy! All right, all right!" Zane called out in surrender, gently pushing the animal aside. His eyes narrowed slightly as he crouched down, reaching out to sift through the rubble and pick up the object that had caught Diesel's attention.

Charred but otherwise intact, the Wizard of Oz lay in his hand.

"What the…?" Zane trailed off, flicking through the blackened pages before letting the tome drop back onto the ground. "Since when do you like bedtime stories, boy?" he asked, glancing over at the dog who was still sniffing at the book, his tail wagging furiously.

The dog let out another plaintive whine as Zane pulled a leash out of his back pocket and clipped it onto his collar, ensuring that Diesel couldn't run off on him again.

"Come on, boy," Zane said with a determined glint in his eye. "Let's get to work."


	4. Mom's The Word

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** Okay, guys, if anyone's interested I've put up a web page (accessible via my profile) which has cast pictures for Before I Sleep. Jess, Rand, Brax etc are all there. X5898 may wish to avoid it though – I changed my mind about the actor who plays Rand and I have no desire to be murdered in my sleep…

**Chapter 4: Mom's The Word**

**Sector Three, Sandeman's Old House**

"Good morning, beautiful."

Max tensed at the sound of Logan's voice, grimacing against the pillow. She'd been dozing pleasantly with the doona drawn up to her neck, unusually content to shut out the world for an hour or two.

"You look like you were having a pretty good dream," Logan observed with a wry smile. "Dare I ask?"

_Please don't_. Max willed him to just turn around and go back to whatever he'd been doing. Predictably he didn't. He just stood over her, expecting an answer. She let her head fall back against the pillow with a sigh, the echoes of her little daydream fading away with a hint of a chuckle and a flash of hazel eyes.

"Beer and a beach," she mumbled with a half-hearted smile as an all-too-familiar queasiness made itself known. "Good times."

"Any special guest stars?" he asked, sitting down on the bed beside her. Max's eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the smile he was bestowing on her and decided to kill the mood before he could make a move.

"Lydecker. I broke his neck. The other stuff came after."

That comment hit Logan like a bucket of cold water and he cleared his throat slightly. "Breakfast?"

"Sure," Max replied with a sigh, watching as he strode back out the door. She waited until she could hear him moving around in the kitchen before she threw back the covers and followed him, choosing to sit down at the table and stare at the black-painted windows.

Max had been at the safehouse for five hours by the time she finally slunk out to her motorcycle and headed back to Logan's place. Her lips twitched up into a rueful smile. Alec would be feeling it, no matter how much coffee he'd gulped down. Unlike her, he wasn't built to function on two hours sleep but it had been such a relief to sit down and while away the time with someone who understood.

A stab of guilt had her glancing over her shoulder at Logan, who was busy whisking eggs for their breakfast. He didn't have any idea that she'd been sneaking out. If he did, he'd have asked her about it, wanted to know where she'd gone and who she'd seen. That part of being in a relationship bugged the hell out of her. For eleven years after the escape, she hadn't explained herself to anyone – not even her long-suffering and decidedly strange former employer, Normal – so accounting for her whereabouts had quickly become irritating.

Her whole world seemed… askew. The euphoria of finally having her dreams within reach had worn off far too quickly. She'd fantasized for ages about how life would be perfect if she could get rid of the virus but the reality was nothing like she'd imagined.

You never really know somebody until you live with them. She'd heard that somewhere. She'd been surprised and more than a little unnerved to discover that the old adage had proved to be true. Logan was a good man. He was honourable and smart and the protector of the underdog. He also consistently forgot to put the toilet seat down and every conversation they had managed to turn into a debate about transgenic rights or Eyes Only's latest crusade. She may have been cooked up in a test tube but even Max knew that wasn't the basis for a healthy relationship.

The memory of her marathon tête-à-tête with Alec sprung to mind and made her smile. She never knew what was going to come out of his mouth next. She'd missed that more than she would ever admit. Alec had always kept her on her toes and last night had been no different. She hadn't felt so energized in weeks.

Just to make things even more awkward, Logan seemed hell-bent on making up for the year's worth of sex he'd been denied. Max had bitten her tongue on several occasions to stop herself from blurting out that the missionary position was _not_ the only viable sexual pose on the planet. She was getting to the point where she wanted him to get it over with and leave her alone.

_Things'll get better_, she thought to herself. _Every couple has an adjustment period. We'll be fine_. That had been her mantra for the past fortnight but it rang hollow each and every time she chanted it.

She'd fought so hard for so long that a part of her still refused to accept that this really might be it. The be all and end all of her life with Logan was mental, emotional and physical boredom. That thought was so depressing that she could have cried right then and there.

The scent of Logan's cooking wafted past and Max's stomach lurched in protest, dispelling all thought of her tragically one-sided romance.

Dry toast was the only thing she had any appetite for at breakfast these days but more often than not she forced herself to choke down at least a couple of mouthfuls of whatever Logan was cooking up. With her metabolism she'd never been the type to eat lightly and she _really_ didn't want him noticing anything different.

_I have to get out of here!_ she thought in sudden panic, feeling the walls closing in on her, suffocating her.

"Uh… actually I'm gonna swing by to see Original Cindy before she starts work," Max told him, keeping her voice as casual as she could. "Can I take a rain check on breakfast?"

Logan's face fell but he nodded. "Is everything okay?" he asked in concern. "You seem a little… edgy."

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied quickly, snatching up a piece of toast from one of the plates he'd set out and hurrying out of the room before he could protest. She munched on the slice gingerly, not trusting her body to accept anything until at least noon. She'd just stepped into the shower when Logan walked into the bathroom and shoved the curtain back.

"Logan!" Max reflexively crossed an arm over her chest, nearly overbalancing as she snatched up the towel she'd put aside.

"Max, what's going on?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest as she hastened to turn off the water before the towel was completely soaked through.

"Logan, I was in the middle of a shower –"

"Exactly. You can't run out on me," he told her, his blue eyes sliding over her despite the downward cast to his lips. "You've been distant for days. Something's wrong. Now tell me what it is so I can fix it."

_Okay, just calm down_. _Don't get mad_, she thought, drawing in a deep, steadying breath. She couldn't believe he'd deliberately ambushed her. Her first instinct was to snap at him but she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere.

"Look, I've got a lot on my mind," she hedged, feeling ridiculous being interrogated while she was soaking wet, nauseas and wearing nothing but a sopping towel. "With Brax and Mole gone and Rand getting back on his feet, it's just been me and Alec running everything."

"So delegate," Logan told her simply. "The X5s were designed to be officers. Recruit a couple of the others to pick up the slack for you. You're running yourself into the ground."

Max blinked in disbelief.

_He didn't just buy that line. No way. Alec wouldn't have. Not for a second_.

"We're handling it," she ground out in aggravation.

"Max, I'm worried about you. You haven't been eating –"

_Oh shit_… "I'm fine," she insisted stubbornly, holding his gaze. He looked like he wanted to argue and he opened his mouth to say something. Max actually tensed in anticipation but then his jaw snapped shut. It was over. Once again he was backing down, avoiding a messy confrontation.

It was yet another annoying habit of his – one that was grating on her increasingly frayed nerves. He seemed to think it was his duty to keep the peace between them, to stop an argument before it started. Max hated it. Sometimes she _wanted_ to fight, to bicker and shout and know that whoever she was shouting at could handle it. It was irrational and childish but it was the truth. She felt like she was being patronized.

"All right," Logan agreed. "Just be careful."

With that, he stalked out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Max let out the breath she'd been holding and smacked the side of her fist against the wall tiles hard enough to crack the aged porcelain.

_Damn it_, she growled in frustration, squeezing her eyes shut as she turned the water back on. _Damn it all to fucking hell!_

It had been six months since the Jam Pony siege. Six months of hiding and fighting and losing people she cared about. Six months of struggling to survive. She was stressed out, she was tired and now Logan was on her case too. Maybe she could take her Ninja and just get out of Seattle for a while. Even as she thought of it, she dismissed it. She couldn't leave. With a soft whimper, Max leaned forward and let her forehead touch the cool tiles, the hot water cascading down her back.

_I can't keep doing this_, she thought in despair, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as her belly roiled violently. _Oh God… _She practically leapt out of the shower, making a mad dash for the toilet bowl a few short feet away. She barely had time to sweep her hair away from her face before she threw up the few bites of toast she'd managed to swallow, praying to whomever might be listening that Logan couldn't hear her over the sound of running water.

Denial could only carry Max so far. For weeks she'd been trying to convince herself that she'd caught a tummy bug, that she'd eaten something that didn't agree with her but reality was finally starting to sink in. Her breasts were tender and she hadn't been so moody in… well, ever. Having a temper was one thing – feeling like crying because Logan didn't want to argue with her went way beyond that. She'd done some homework and she didn't like the way the equation had turned out at all.

She hadn't confirmed it. She was too scared.

If she was pregnant, the next logical question was: who was the father? But she already knew the answer to that too, if she was honest with herself. She'd been feeling off-colour even before Alec produced the cure. Besides, Logan used protection religiously. He planned ahead. He planned everything, damn him. Nothing was spontaneous.

Not like Alec, who'd spent two days doing things to her body that she was positive had to be illegal in certain countries. Neither of them had spared a single thought for birth control under the influence of feline DNA and a helluva lot of hormones. Those two days were burned into her memory and tended to pop into her mind at the worst times. On the other hand, they'd saved her from having to fake a whole bunch of orgasms.

Wincing at the turn her thoughts had taken, Max got to her feet and wiped the fog off the mirror with her hand. She stared at her reflection, at the face she recognized yet felt oddly detached from. To the world she didn't look any different. She was just Max, with long black hair and dark brown eyes. It was strange to think that so much could change while the packaging remained the same as ever.

By the time Max finally got out of the front door in her standard urban combat ensemble, she was feeling a bit more human. She blazed away on her Ninja without a word of farewell to Logan, red-lining the motorcycle as she turned towards Sector Five.

Original Cindy was just about to leave for work when she heard the familiar rumble of a Kawasaki Ninja pulling up outside. She moved over to the window and smiled as she saw Max jump off and jog inside, her dark hair flying out behind her. By the time she opened the door, Max was standing outside with her fist poised to knock.

Cindy immediately enfolded her friend in a hug that Max clearly needed from the look on her face. "Hey, boo," she said affectionately. "Are you aiight?"

"Not really," Max confessed, her voice shaking as Cindy guided her into the apartment. "Do you think you can call in sick today?"

"For you, boo? Original Cindy'll take a week," the chocolate-skinned woman replied with a grin. "Make y'self at home, girl, and tell me what's on your mind."

"I think I'm pregnant," Max blurted out. Cindy's eyebrows shot up into her hairline.

"Damn, girl, you weren't kiddin'," Cindy replied, urging Max to sit down on the couch. The X5 female kicked off her shoes and drew her knees up to her chest. "Aiight, you gotta break this down for me, boo."

"I said I think I'm pregnant," Max huffed impatiently, raking a hand through her still-damp hair. "What more is there to break down?"

"Easy, girl, have you gotten y'self checked out by a doctor?"

"Not yet," Max said with a tiny shake of her head, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I uh… I don't know what to do, OC."

"Does Logan know?" Cindy prompted her gently. Max flushed in response, her entire demeanour screaming guilt.

"It's… it's complicated," Max stammered, biting her lip. Cindy didn't rush her. She just sat there, waiting for Max to tell her everything in her own time. It was almost a full minute before Max spoke again.

"Logan isn't the father."

_Oh boy_. Cindy had been afraid of that the moment the word 'pregnant' had passed Max's lips.

"Alec?" Cindy asked gently. Max nodded sharply.

"The whole heat thing at Crash… we didn't even think about protection… we just…" Max looked desperate, like she wanted to cry. "Two days! Two days and we didn't even… _what the hell did we think was going to happen_?"

"Boo, you weren't thinkin', you were feelin' and that ain't a crime," Cindy pointed out, sounding eminently reasonable. "Look, first thing's first, we gotta find out if you've really got a bun in the oven. We'll figure everythin' else out from there."

"I can't be a mother," Max protested, as if she hadn't heard a word Cindy said. "No way!"

"Max!" Cindy reached out to catch her friend's hands in her own. "Max, calm down and listen to me, girl. You gotta at least consider the possibility that this is for real."

"I. Can't. Be. A. Mother. Cindy." Max's voice rose by yet another decibel. "I can't. Period."

"Why not?" Cindy asked, grabbing hold of Max's chin and forcing the X5 to look her in the eyes. "Why not, Max?"

"I just… can't!" Max blurted out, looking frantic. "I was made in a lab, okay? That is _not_ potential parent material!"

"Boo, Ember and Gem and all those other breedin' females probably thought the same thing," Cindy told her patiently. "They ain't terrible mothers, are they?"

Max gulped, her hands trembling in Cindy's grasp. "OC, I don't know…"

"Boo, I get that you're scared right now but it's all gonna be aiight. You got Original Cindy's word on that. Now let's pay Doc Woods a visit over at Harbour Lights, huh?" Cindy coaxed her. "Besides, it's about time you took me for a spin on that monster o' yours."

Despite herself, Max couldn't stop a nervous laugh from bubbling up.

"OC?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell Logan."

"Not a word, boo."


	5. Who's Your Daddy?

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Hey guys, sorry it took so long but my little sister just moved to China and I've been kinda distracted. Also – OVER 80 REVIEWS FOR 4 CHAPTERS? I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!

**Chapter 5: Who's Your Daddy?**

**Sector Nine, Harbour Lights Hospital, Late Afternoon**

"It's gonna be fine, boo," Cindy said for the hundredth time that day as Max paced the office, her delicate eyebrows drawn in an anxious frown. "Max, come on, sit down."

"I can't. I'm going crazy," Max said, shaking her head.

"You're gonna wear a hole in the floor," Cindy warned her. "We don't know how long this is gonna take."

"I don't care," Max said, lost in her own thoughts. "I just can't stay still right now."

Her mind was spinning around in endless circles. Even though she was fairly certain that she was pregnant, she was still freaking out over getting a definitive yes or no from a medical professional.

If a doctor said she was pregnant, that made it _real_. No pretending, no ignoring the problem, no running. It meant motherhood, a responsibility Max knew she wasn't prepared for in any way, shape or form. It meant that one of two men – one an idealistic do-gooder, the other a charismatic assassin – was going to be a father.

On a purely intellectual level, it was laughable to even compare them, to wonder which one would make a better father. Logan had had a normal childhood, a family, a home – everything Alec had never had. Logan knew how to be a father because he'd had one to show him the way. But Alec… something in her gut told her that he'd rise to the challenge. Though he'd never admit it, Alec could be incredibly gentle. He was capable of feeling so deeply, like he had with Rachel and did with Jess… like he did with her.

Alec would be a good father if he was given the chance. He'd probably be spun out to begin with but he'd get over it. He wasn't the type to dwell. He just rolled with the punches and made the best of things.

"Max?"

The X5 jumped to her feet like she'd been shot and turned to find Doctor Rosalind Woods standing in the doorway with a manila folder in her hands.

"Well?" Max asked impatiently. The elegant Asian woman smiled and closed the door behind her.

"Congratulations," Doctor Woods said kindly. "You're pregnant."

Max let out the breath she'd been holding and sank back down onto the chair beside Cindy, who immediately draped an arm around her shoulders. Max was trembling as she covered her mouth with her hand, all her concentration on keeping her breathing steady.

"Easy, boo," Cindy said softly.

"I take it this wasn't planned?" Doctor Woods asked gently as she sat down across from her patient.

Max shook her head mutely.

"All right, I know this must be a shock but I need to ask you some questions, okay?" Max nodded, her eyes wide, and Doctor Woods continued. "When was your last period?" she asked, pen at the ready but Max pursed her lips.

"I, uh… well, I don't… get them," Max replied awkwardly. "Cat DNA, you know?"

The doctor quirked an eyebrow and smiled slightly. "I envy you," she said with a small chuckle. "No PMS, huh?"

"No, just a heat cycle that screws me around," Max grumbled. "Why do you want to know?"

"We use it as a way to measure the date of conception," Doctor Woods replied matter-of-factly. "Now, I'll admit that I don't know much about transgenic biology, so I'm just going to ask straight out: how often do you experience these heat cycles of yours?"

"About every four months," Max admitted, licking her dry lips.

"And when was your last one?"

"About eight weeks ago," Max replied quietly. She watched tensely as Doctor Woods scribbled down some notes in neat, sloping script. "Um… can we find out how far along I am?"

"It's all right, Max. There are other ways we can check on that," Doctor Woods assured her, noticing the anxious glances Max was shooting at Original Cindy. The chocolate-skinned woman met the doctor's almond eyes and Woods understood the silent request instantly.

"I'll give you two some time to talk things over," Doctor Woods said kindly and promptly left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

"It's Logan's, right?" Max asked nervously. "I mean, it has to be. I've been sleeping with Logan for a month. I was with Alec for two days. The odds are on Logan's side, aren't they?"

"Boo, I don't think it's quantity that counts here," Cindy cautioned her friend.

"But it's possible, isn't it?" Max insisted, sounding desperate. Cindy let her breath out slowly and reached out to grasp Max's hand in her own.

"Do you want it to be Logan's?" Cindy asked carefully.

Max didn't answer but the swirl of confusion and fear that flashed across her face tugged at Cindy's heart. She squeezed Max's hand reassuringly.

"It's okay, girl. We'll figure this out. I promise."

"Figure out what? Whether it has blue eyes or hazel?" Max asked bitterly.

"Kid's gonna have brown eyes just like her momma," Cindy said diplomatically. "Don't you worry your little head 'bout that."

"But… but human-X5 hybrids have problems," Max stammered. "Gem and Ember, they told me that they have a lot of things wrong with them. Manticore did experiments –"

"How 'bout your nephew?" Cindy offered hopefully. "Huh? Case's daddy was human and he turned out aiight."

"I guess," Max said, swallowing hard as she fidgeted. "Yeah, Case was fine. But what if it's Alec's? What it if has seizures?"

"Max, just stop," Cindy said as she got up and reached out to grab her friend by the shoulders, holding her still. "_Stop_. Y'hear me, girl? Take a deep breath and calm down."

"This is all Jess's fault!" Max snapped unexpectedly, oblivious to the quizzical look Cindy gave her at the sudden turn of conversation.

"You wanna run that by me again, sugah? Goldilocks didn't knock you up."

"She could have stopped this whole thing at Crash," Max continued angrily, "but instead she just had to sit back and let me make an idiot out of myself in front of the entire Jam Pony crew–"

"Boo, I think you're overlookin' one tiny little detail," Cindy pointed out, hoping to halt that train of thought before Max got too carried away. "Like the other two X5 guys who were droolin' over your sex-crazed ass."

"She could have stopped it," Max ground out stubbornly. "She could have stopped all of this! Crash, Terminal City…" Max drew in a shaky breath. "She could have stopped me from going off with Alec if she'd tried!"

"She _did_ try, boo. I was there, remember?" Cindy said gently. "I saw that fight. The girl got beat to hell and thrown in jail for her trouble. She wasn't kickin' back drinkin' tequila."

"But she knew I was in heat," Max protested fiercely. "She _knew _and she didn't say anything!"

"She made a mistake, Max," Cindy replied, keeping her voice low, "and she paid for it."

"Riiiight, 'cause getting her ass kicked really makes up for getting thirty percent of our population killed," Max said scathingly. "She keeps messing everything around. We were doing fine until she turned up."

"You used to say pretty much the same thing 'bout your boy," Cindy reminded her. "You called him a screw up, said he was no good. Now he's helpin' you keep everyone safe, fightin' right there with you."

"Alec _never_ caused that much trouble," Max declared, folding her arms across her chest.

"Actually, he did – it was just a different kind o' trouble," Cindy said ruefully. "Look, we ain't gonna solve anything by standing around in this office bitchin' about whose fault this is. So let's get that fine-ass doctor back in here and find out just how pregnant you are."

"What if I don't want to know?" Max whispered fearfully.

"Sugah, you can find out who the father is now or after that baby-boo is born but you have to find out sometime," Cindy impressed upon her. "I know you, Max. If you don't find out now, the waiting'll make you crazy. Well… more crazy, anyway."

"Hey!" Max protested half-heartedly as Cindy smiled encouragingly.

"It's all good, honey," Cindy told her decisively. "It's all a little weird but everything's gonna work out."

"Cause Original Cindy says so?"

"Damn right, baby girl," Cindy replied with a grin. "Damn right."

**Sector Nine, Jam Pony Xpress**

"Hey, no dogs allowed!" Normal bellowed in outrage as a tall, lanky young man strode in the door with a German Shepherd trotting at his side.

"I'm looking for someone who used to work here," Zane informed him, as if he was chatting about the weather.

"That would imply that whoever it is actually turned up and did the job assigned to them," Normal replied with an air of annoyance, "so I probably can't help you."

"Her name's Max," Zane continued blithely, undeterred by the startled look Normal shot in his direction. "You know, black hair, full lips, genetically-engineered? Ring any bells?"

"None whatsoever," Normal replied calmly.

Zane promptly dropped a copy of New World Weekly on the counter – the one that had clearly stated Max's former place of employment. Normal gazed down at the magazine for a moment, then blinked owlishly at his visitor.

"Missy-Miss hasn't graced us with her presence since she left a group of government degenerates tied up on the second floor," Normal said peevishly. "Can't help you."

"Is that your standard line?" Zane asked wryly as Diesel darted around behind the counter and started sniffing at Normal, making the older man jump away and spill his coffee all over himself.

"It's my only line," Normal told him irritably, dabbing at the wet patch on his trousers. Zane rolled his eyes as the proprietor strode out onto the floor to shout abuse at his staff, throwing in a strident "Bip bip bip!" as he tossed packages to various riders.

"I don't want trouble. I'm just trying to find Max," Zane tried again as he meandered the Normal's wake, his lips twitching in amusement.

"Max _is_ trouble," Normal muttered. "Hot run! Union and Fifth!"

"Probably," Zane conceded, "but since Terminal City got roasted, you're the only lead I've got to track her down."

"I'm honoured," Normal said dryly, "but give me one good reason why I should even be talking to yet another fame-seeking, freak-hunting reprobate."

Zane screwed up his mouth as he pictured the line-up of journalists, weirdos and transgenic-hating ordinaries who'd probably beaten down Normal's door for information. "Fair enough," he admitted, then turned around and brushed his dark hair away from his neck for Normal's inspection.

The bespectacled man was unimpressed. "Do you know how many of those I've seen over the last couple of months?" he asked, suddenly completely serious. "Kids come in here all the time flashing brand new barcode tattoos, as if it won't get them killed if the wrong person sees it."

All traces of humour vanished from Zane's face as that sank in. "Really?" he asked softly, his blood running cold at the thought of anyone willingly branding themselves like that.

"You're authentic, aren't you?" Normal realized as he took in Zane's expression, the X5's reaction testifying to the fact more eloquently than words ever could have.

Zane nodded, his brown eyes meeting Normal's as the older man held out his hand. "Reagan Ronald. Everyone here calls me Normal, so you might as well too."

"Zane," the X5 replied, shaking the hand Normal had offered. Normal went back into his office and rummaged around until he found a pen and paper, then slapped them both down in front of Zane.

"Name, barcode and contact number."


	6. Anger Management

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** Okay, guys, due to the public outcry against Brendan Fehr as Jett, here's a challenge – _find me someone better!_ Who do you think would fit the part perfectly? E-mail a name and a pic to and once we've got some nominations, we'll have a vote to select the new-and-improved Jett Sinclair.

**Chapter 6: Anger Management**

**Sector Nine, Safehouse Five**

"Well, look at you, Mister Mom," Alec drawled, grinning over at Jett.

The X5 male was jiggling Bo expertly in one arm and rifling through Ember's baby supplies with the other. Jett shot his friend a quelling glance as Bo burbled happily in his stepfather's grasp, dark blue eyes studying the room around him. The child was six months old but was already close to walking, something that still amazed Alec. Bo and the other children of the X9 generation were developing at a rate that was nothing short of astounding.

"Go easy on him, Alec," Ember chimed in playfully. "He's playing catch-up. I had Bo to myself for a whole four months before he came onto the scene." The redhead quickly ducked the squeaky toy that was flung in her direction and smiled up at her mate, whose mock-scowl didn't intimidate her in the slightest. "Tsk tsk tsk. Temper, temper," she admonished him serenely.

Jett rolled his eyes and finally found a clean cloth nappy which he used to mop up the mess Bo had made on his shoulder. When Alec snorted at the scene, Jett threw the soiled rag at his head. Alec grimaced as he caught it, the sickly-sweet odour assaulting his nose.

"You know, uncles don't deal with this shit, Jett," he said quickly, tossing the offending article aside. "I'm supposed to spoil him rotten, not clean him up."

"Uh uh, you stay away from my impressionable little bundle of joy," Ember warned him with a sniff as she got up and took back possession of her son. "You'll turn him into one of those obnoxious skirt-chaser types."

"As opposed to the choir boy you're shacked up with?" Alec quipped only to receive an elbow in the ribs as Jett slouched down onto the couch beside him. "Hey!"

Ember nuzzled her son's cheek and the child grabbed fistfuls of her red-gold hair. "You're not going to listen to your nasty uncle Alec, are you, buster?" she crooned. "You're gonna grow up to be just like your mom."

"I think he's missing a few of the requisite body parts, Ember," Alec chuckled and even Jett snorted in amusement. "So what's up with you?" Alec turned to face his friend. "Did you use up your annual word quota at Harbour Lights or what?"

Jett smirked but didn't respond verbally, refusing to take the bait.

"Aw, come on, man," Alec cajoled him. "I was just starting to get used to hearing you talk. Now you're gonna regress on me, make us get back into that whole mime routine of yours?"

"I happen to like the strong, silent type," Ember defended her man.

"Yeah, must make arguments a breeze when he won't talk back," Alec snarked as Jett caught him in a headlock from behind. "Whoa, uncle!"

"What do you think, Jett? Does 'uncle' cut it when he's threatened to turn our son into some wham-bam-thankyou-ma'am womanizer?" Ember asked with a ripple of laughter as she watched the two men in their light-hearted struggle.

"It's in the genes, Ember," Alec grunted as he grabbed Jett's legs and bodily lifted him off the ground.

"Okay, baby, this is called violence," Ember said in her best mothering voice as she jiggled Bo, watching Alec and Jett continue their scuffle on the floor. "This is something I expect you to never engage in, okay? This is very, very _bad_."

The sound of a cell phone ringing interrupted the grappling match just as Jett got the upper hand and Alec's fist thumped onto the floor.

"Okay, okay! I yield!" he said quickly. "Come on, man, get off me." With a satisfied smile, Jett let Alec up and backed off so that his friend could answer his phone. He checked the caller ID and exhaled in a rush.

"Hey, Normal," Alec said with a grin, rotating his shoulder to loosen it up. "What's up?"

"_A young man came to see me today_," Normal informed him. "_He was looking for Max_."

The hair on the back of Alec's neck prickled in alarm. "Who was he?"

"_X5-332680074205_," Normal told him, clearly reading it off. Alec's brow furrowed as he recognized the number.

"Wait, 205? Are you sure?" Alec asked in consternation.

"_That's what he wrote down_," Normal assured him. "_Do you know him?_"

"Only by reputation," Alec admitted. "If he's on the level, he's one of Max's brothers from the 09 escape."

"_He seemed like – Sky, that package isn't going to deliver itself! Bip bip bip_!"

"Normal," Alec said patiently, reminding his former employer that he was still waiting on the line.

"_It's a miracle I'm still in business_," Normal muttered and Alec could picture him standing behind the counter, glaring at each and every one of the slackers he habitually hired. "_Where was I?_"

"You were telling me what you think of this Zane guy," Alec replied as he started slowly pacing the breadth of the room, a dozen possible scenarios all running through his brain.

"_He seems all right_."

Alec blinked at that. "That's it? No rant about irresponsible governments and transgenics wandering around the countryside like lost dogs?"

"_Not today. I'm down three riders and I've got packages backed up. This place has gone downhill ever since you left,_" Normal declared with a long-suffering sigh.

"I'm surprised you haven't put Dash to work," Alec chuckled as he thought of the X5 bodyguard who'd taken Quinn's place at Jam Pony.

"_Kid won't go. He's as stubborn as Max_," Normal complained as Alec laughed quietly.

"Did you get his phone number?"

"_Dash's?_"

"No, Zane's," Alec amended quickly and gave a nod of thanks to Ember, who had passed him a pen and piece of paper. He jotted the number down and thanked Normal before hanging up. "Well, guys, sorry to cut this short but I've got an 09er to investigate."

"You're not going alone, are you?" Ember asked in concern. "Remember that new pairs rule you and Max set up? No-one goes anywhere outside the safehouses alone."

"I remember, Red," Alec countered. "I've got someone in mind."

"You wouldn't be blowing us off for a certain bitchy brunette, would you?" Ember asked with a mock pout and a knowing look in her dark blue eyes.

"Nope," Alec replied with a shake of his head. "I'm blowing you off for an infuriating blonde."

**Sector Five, Safehouse Seven**

"I can't believe you sicced Dee onto Alec," Rand said, shaking his head as he and Jess circled each other on the worn mats that covered the floor. "The girl's like a pit bull. Once she latches on, she won't let go."

"I didn't _sic_ her onto him," Jess informed him archly. "I just gave her a nudge in his direction. And are we speaking from experience?"

"Maybe but that's not the point. This isn't another one of your friends with benefits ideas, is it?"

"I didn't hear you complaining when you were getting those benefits."

"Well, some are better suited for it than others, wildcat," Rand replied with a hint of mischief and Jess's lips twitched in amusement. "Come on, what are you up to?"

"A magician never gives away his secrets and neither do I," Jess declared, gesturing for him to do something. "Now get your ass in gear."

"Hey, I'm ready," Rand assured her loftily, "but are you?"

"Just take a swing, Rand."

"A little testy this afternoon, aren't we?"

"Yeah, cause you're putting on a dance recital instead of getting to work."

"Well, all work and no play is making Jess a dull girl," he replied playfully. "You should really try to relax."

"If one more person says that, I'll break their jaw," Jess threatened, planting her hands on her hips when it became obvious that Rand had no intention of making an aggressive move. "I'm fine."

"Uh huh."

"Okay, you can just stop with the tone," Jess told him, folding her arms over her chest.

"Oh, you mean the 'I-don't-believe-you-for-a-second' tone?"

"Yeah, that's the one," she agreed, glaring at him.

"Fine. I'll make you a deal. I'll stop with the tone when you tell Alec the truth," Rand challenged her.

Jess's expression turned glacial. "I'm handling it," she said firmly.

"Avoiding him so you don't have to lie to him isn't handling it, Jess," Rand pointed out, totally immune to her ever-darkening death stare.

"What are you, my sparring partner or my shrink?"

"I'm versatile," Rand said with a grin.

"You're annoying," Jess corrected him but Rand just rolled his eyes as she dropped into a combat stance again. "Not to mention patronizing. I'm not gonna break. Now a throw a decent punch, would ya? You hit like a girl."

"Coming from a female of the transgenic persuasion, I'll take that as a compliment," Rand drawled teasingly just before Jess' fist slammed into his nose and stars exploded behind his eyes. "Whoa! Hey!" he protested as she kicked out and caught him in the stomach. Rand doubled over, winded, and managed to dance away from her next strike.

"Come on, stop treating me like fucking glass already," Jess growled as she continued her attack.

"Hey, take it easy!" Rand ducked under her next strike and came up behind her, catching her arm and twisting it up behind her back. "What the hell's gotten into you?" She lashed out with her elbow but he blocked that too, locking it against her side. "I said cut it out!"

"Or what?" Jess sneered bitterly. "You gonna spank me?"

Under any other circumstances, Rand could have had a field day with that question. As it was, he knew the last thing on Jess's mind was fun.

"Jess, I don't think this is such a good idea," he cautioned her as she continued to struggle against his grip.

"I don't care what you think," Jess snarled, kicking up and over her shoulder to connect with Rand's head. He staggered back as Jess turned on him and resigned himself to an all-out-brawl with a pissed-off stealth female.

"All right," he grumbled as Jess blurred into action. The X5s collided in a flurry of motion and Rand quickly found he had no choice but to fight back. Jess wasn't taking any prisoners, striking at any opening in his defences without hesitation. She also wasn't thinking straight, running on anger, and it didn't take long for Rand to take advantage of that fact.

The next thing Jess knew she was flat on her back, pinned to the floor. A shaft of panic shot through her and she lashed out, her fist slamming into his jaw with enough force to send him reeling. Rand rolled off to the side and quickly put several feet of distance between them, rubbing at his chin.

"Are you all right?" he asked as soon as he realized what he'd done.

Jess glowered up at him, trying to slow her breathing and heart rate. She wanted to get up and beat him to a pulp but her legs suddenly felt like jelly. So she just sat there, hoping he hadn't noticed that she was trembling. Of course, she wasn't that lucky.

"Jess, I'm s –'

"Don't you dare apologize to me." Jess cut him off ruthlessly, raking her hair away from her face in frustration. "It's my own damn fault."

"I should have been more careful," Rand insisted but Jess suddenly jumped to her feet and rounded on him, blue-green eyes blazing in anger.

"You shouldn't have to _be_ careful, Rand!" she snapped. "You shouldn't have to hold back every time we do this. I'm an X5. I should be able to handle a stupid sparring match!"

"Jess, you _can_ handle a stupid sparring match," Rand assured her. "You were fine until I pinned you and no-one's gonna give you any shit for freaking out on that one."

"I hate this," Jess huffed through gritted teeth, turning away from him. "I hate being like this."

"Stop beating yourself up. It's gonna take time to get your head on straight."

"Time is the one thing I don't have," Jess grudgingly admitted, her gaze fixed on the wall. "My heat's in less than a month."

Rand winced and let out a low whistle. "Okay, that could be an issue," he conceded. "What, were you planning on just taking off when it came around?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," Jess replied miserably as Rand walked around so he could look her in the face. "It's typical that the universe found a way to suck all the fun out of the one biological defect I actually enjoyed."

Rand stifled a smile at that comment, knowing she hadn't intended it to be funny. "Yeah, I can kind of relate on that score," he told her. Jess gave him a quizzical look and he decided to humour her. "Back at Manticore, me and Kestrel… well, she was the first one to go into heat and… uh…"

Jess's blue-green eyes had widened as the implications of what he was saying sank in. "Wait a second, you and Kestrel… I mean, you didn't…?"

"It wasn't pretty," Rand said reluctantly, looking anywhere but at the blonde. "We had no idea what was happening. It was all kind of a blur." He bit his lip for a second before continuing. "She was in the infirmary for a couple of weeks after that."

"And what about you?" Jess asked softly.

"Renfro threw me into solitary for a month," Rand replied, a far-away look in his blue eyes, "and I wasn't in great shape when I went in, let alone when they dragged me out."

"That wasn't exactly what I meant," Jess pointed out and Rand nodded.

"I know," he said with a sigh, finally meeting her gaze. "Look, it took time to figure everything out and…"

"And?" Jess prompted him when he trailed off.

Rand grimaced, wrinkling his nose. "Jess, if you tell anyone this, they will never find your body."

"What is it?" she asked, her curiosity piqued by his reticence. After another couple of seconds of hesitation, he made a face and took the plunge.

"I wasn't exactly Joe Romeo when I got out of Manticore," he told her, though he looked like he wished he'd kept his mouth shut. "They put me and Kestrel back into the breeding programme as soon as we were both fit, which just made things worse. After they burned the place down, it was months before I even looked at a woman, let alone thought about anything else."

Jess was watching him with a thoughtful, slightly amazed expression on her face and Rand shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm going to regret telling you that, aren't I?" he asked sheepishly but she shook her head.

"I won't tell anyone," she promised to Rand's intense relief. "Sorry I hit you."

"It's okay."

"And kicked you… and tried to break your nose."

"Am I interrupting anything?" a smooth, familiar voice asked and Jess's head snapped around to look over her shoulder. Alec grinned at her from the doorway and from Rand's perspective it was like flipping a switch. The mask slipped into place and the tension that had permeated the room simply vanished in the wake of the smile that Jess bestowed on her brother.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked curiously, playing her part to perfection. "I figured you'd have CO stuff to do."

"Actually, I do," Alec agreed with a small smile as he looked over at Rand. "Normal got a visit from a new X5 and I'm heading over to Sector Nine to meet him. I could use an extra set of eyes and ears, just in case he's bent."

"You've got yourself a sniper," Rand replied with a nod.

"What do you say, Jessie? Feel like tagging along, checking out the new guy?" Alec asked, his teasing tone belied by the intensity of his gaze as he waited for the blonde to answer him.

"Sorry, baby brother, I've got some reading to catch up on," Jess said with a shrug. "Maybe next time."

"Reading?" Alec echoed sceptically. "Your books'll still be here when we get back, Jessie. Come on, I figured you'd be dying to get the scoop on this."

"Well, you figured wrong," Jess replied, a hint of tension creeping into her voice as she stared her brother down. "You boys have a good time. You can fill me in later."

Alec's expression darkened as he folded his arms across his chest. "Okay, Jessie, your excuses have progressed from convincing to questionable and now downright stupid," he told her sternly. "I guess that's a good thing. It means you're running out of ideas for avoiding me."

"What are you talking about? I'm not avoiding you," Jess protested, feigning innocence.

"Nah, you're just shutting me down whenever I talk to you and trying to get rid of me every time I see you. Where would I get an idea like that?"

"You're imagining things," Jess said tautly but Alec just shook his head and walked right up to her, hazel eyes locking onto blue-green.

"Liar," he said softly.

"Okay, guys, time out," Rand said, hoping to diffuse the situation but the siblings just ignored him.

"Alec, please, I don't want to fight," Jess pleaded, swiftly changing tactics.

"Fine, don't. Just tell me what the hell's going on with you lately."

"I'm just… burnt out, okay?" she said with a convincing sigh, pushing her hair away from her face.

"Strike two, Jessie. What, you can't think up a creative lie for me? Something really _is_ eating you," he decided.

"Alec," Rand growled warningly. "Don't."

"No, he's right," Jess said suddenly, startling both men.

"He is?" Rand echoed in surprise.

"I am?" Alec asked warily, his suspicious gaze never leaving his sister's face.

"Yeah, of course," Jess retorted, adopting a flawless and decidedly sarcastic Southern drawl. "You've shown me the error of mah ways, baby brother. Honesty is the best policy. Hallelujah, I have seen the light!"

"Cute, Jess. Real cute," Alec replied as she gave him a too-sweet smile.

"Creative enough for you?" she taunted her brother with a smirk as Alec glowered at her in frustration. "Good. Now both of you go and have fun picking up the new recruit. I have a date with Kipling."

With that, Jess swept out of the room, but not before aiming another smug glance at her brother.

"So…" Rand began, breaking the awkward silence. "Tell me about our mystery guest."


	7. Moment Of Truth

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** Max's reaction in this chapter might be a little OOC but it seemed so funny I just had to put it in. Forgive me? Even she can't stay in denial forever. As for my dream cast – to hell with it! I'm throwing it open. Nominate whoever you want for whatever character you want (some people already are anyway) with one exception – I don't care what anyone says, Olivia Wilde _is_ Jess.

If anyone's interested in actual descriptions of the characters (for authenticity), check out my website. I'm updating it tonight with the relevant info from Chimera and Damage.

**Chapter 7: Moment of Truth**

**Sector Nine**

Alec hadn't really been sure what to expect when he'd walked into the run-down diner that had been nominated as the rendezvous point. The 09ers had never been his favourite topic of conversation. Max was really the only one he knew well though he was warming up to Krit and Syl. He figured it wouldn't hurt to check out this guy claiming to be Zane, make sure he was the real deal instead of telling Max and setting her up for more disappointment. Family was and always had been Max's blind spot. So Rand had set himself up across the street with a high-powered rifle and Alec had strolled into the diner.

Thirty seconds after meeting X5-205 aka Zane Stephenson, Alec could only think of one way to describe him – the man was cool.

Alec had recognized Zane immediately. After all, he'd spent fourteen years in the same unit as X5-206, whom they'd called Kal. Zane had scanned the diner and quickly spotted Alec, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied the stealth model before approaching him.

"Ben?"

"Alec," the hazel-eyed X5 corrected him, holding out a hand for Zane to shake. "Ben and I were twinned."

"Two for the price of one, huh?" Zane asked, smiling faintly as he accepted the handshake. "Figures."

"Yeah, typical Manticore," Alec said ruefully. "I'm 494."

"Did they clone all of us?" Zane asked curiously as he sat down across from Alec, who nodded.

"Pretty much," Alec replied. "Don't sweat it. You look a lot like someone I used to know as well."

"Can I help you, boys?" The two X5s looked up to find a pretty brunette waitress standing a little too close, looking a little too hopeful. She glanced from Alec to Zane and back again, her smile widening.

"Just a coffee, thanks. Black," Zane told her, making her blush with a simple wink. She hurried away with a giggle and Zane shook his head. "I'll put money on her getting it wrong."

"Uh huh," Alec agreed.

"So are you satisfied that I'm for real?" Zane asked, leaning back in the chair as he looked Alec in the eyes. "That is why you wanted to meet me here, isn't it?"

"Quick on the uptake, I see," Alec replied with a smirk. "We can't be too careful after what happened to Terminal City. This isn't the kind of club you can join without the right credentials."

"Yeah, I stopped by Sector Seven when I arrived," Zane informed him quietly. "That place is a graveyard."

"Courtesy of the United States military," Alec agreed with a touch of anger. "Which begs the question: why are you here? Seattle isn't the safest place on Earth for our kind."

"You just answered your own question," Zane told him. "It _isn't_ safe here and I'm looking for someone who has a tendency to run towards trouble instead of away from it."

"Max?" Alec guessed.

"Close, but no," Zane replied with a chuckle. "It's a family thing. No offence."

"None taken," Alec replied blithely. "Max is the same way, wanting to handle it all herself. Of course the family's a helluva lot bigger these days."

"So let me guess," Zane said with an expansive gesture. "Our little firecracker is playing mother hen to the entire transgenic population, come hell or high water?"

"That about sums it up," Alec agreed with a grin. "How'd you know?"

"A girl who doesn't sleep has to find a way to pass the time," Zane recounted fondly. "She used to stick her nose into everything."

Alec couldn't have stopped himself from smiling at that comment even if he'd wanted to. The 09er had Max pegged perfectly even if he hadn't seen her in over a decade. It struck Alec as strange how easily he was falling into conversation with the newcomer, as if he'd known Zane for five years instead of five minutes.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Alec concurred, thinking of all the times Max had gotten herself into the middle of some messy situations because her natural curiosity had gotten the better of her. Then he noticed Zane looking at him with a thoughtful expression on his face and lifted an eyebrow. "What?"

"You really aren't anything like Ben," Zane mused with a slight smile. "The way you talk, facial expressions… it's just a bit weird to see Ben's face and know you're not him."

"I could say the same thing about you," Alec replied, choosing to take the observations as compliments. "Kal was wound pretty tight, even when we were kids."

"Kal, huh? Hmm. Good to know the resemblance is only skin deep," Zane replied amiably.

"You have no idea," Alec deadpanned. Zane gave him a quizzical look but let it slide, choosing instead to stretch out in his chair as the pretty waitress returned with his order. Sure enough, she'd brought him a flat white.

"It should be impossible to get that order wrong," Zane muttered with a sigh as she scurried away. "So… how many people have you got watching this place? I assume there are a couple of snipers surrounding us."

"You seem to have a pretty high opinion of yourself. What makes you think I'd need any help if I wanted to take you down?" Alec responded, settling in to enjoy the game they were playing.

"A combat against a stealth? I've got an edge when it comes to muscle mass, pal," Zane pointed out.

"And I've got ten years of training on you," Alec countered easily, "not to mention a couple of dirty tricks I've picked up. Feel like pushing your luck?"

Zane studied him for a moment, his brown eyes taking in the confident posture, the unflappable take-it-as-it-comes demeanour that was such a far cry from Ben's wild imagination and menacing intensity.

"Some other time," Zane decided. "Too many witnesses. Mind if I bring a friend in?"

"Depends on what kind of friend you're talkin' about," Alec replied warily.

Zane let out a piercing whistle and seconds later an enormous German Shepherd sauntered into the diner, oblivious to the shrill protests of the two waitresses attending to the other patrons. It came right up to Alec and started sniffing him, almost nudging the hazel-eyed man out of his chair in his enthusiasm.

"Whoa, down boy!" Alec said defensively, jumping to his feet to back away as Zane reached out and snagged the dog's collar.

"Not a dog person, huh?" Zane asked, dragging the animal away from Alec and muttering 'Sit' – an injunction the dog obeyed though his intelligent dark eyes remained fixed on the strange X5 sitting across from his master, his ears perking up with interest.

"After dealing with Cujo's brood back at Manticore?" Alec hedged. "Not really."

"Diesel's harmless," Zane told him affectionately, giving the dog's fur a vigorous rubbing. "Cats chase him, not the other way around. Don't they, boy?"

"I just don't get why you'd want a German Shepherd," Alec said in genuine bewilderment, still watching the animal distrustfully. "Aren't there a thousand other breeds out there that you could have picked without falling back on Manticore's attack dog of choice?"

"Probably," Zane conceded, then sniggered. "But none of them have his eyes."

"Whatever, man," Alec said, rolling his eyes. "But if that thing makes a wrong move, he's cat food. Got it?"

Zane merely chuckled and scratched Diesel behind the ears, setting the dog's tail to wagging. "So have we passed your little test or what?"

In reply, Alec fished his cell phone out of his pocket and hit one of the speed dials. "Hey, pal, you feel like coming down to join us?" Alec asked, nodding at the affirmative he received. "All right."

"Sniper?" Zane asked knowingly.

"Sniper," Alec confirmed with a nod, snapping the phone shut and putting it away. "He's a smart ass too. You'll get along just fine."

Zane laughed softly. "Manticorean sarcasm," he mused, shaking his head. "Can't beat it, can you?"

"Seems to be in the genes," Alec observed. "The guys are tomcats and the girls are bitches. Gotta love that animal DNA."

"Comes in handy," Zane chimed in. "You gonna tell me you don't like being able to jump fifteen feet of razor wire without getting a scratch?"

Alec's lips lifted slightly, his eyes glinting mischievously. "Depends on what's waiting on the other side."

"Sit down, man, he's not gonna bite you," Zane chided the still-standing Alec, scratching Diesel's ears with one hand. "The only thing he's a danger to is a rump steak."

"Sorry. Cat DNA," Alec replied ruefully. "I'm good."

"Big bad X5 afraid of a little dog?" Zane taunted him, chuckling at Alec's discomfiture.

"That's not a dog. It's a horse," Alec replied, eyeing Diesel suspiciously as the diner door swung open with a _ding_ to admit Rand, who swaggered in as if he owned the place. He too gave the dog a wide berth.

"So you _did_ bring some muscle along," Zane baited Alec as he looked up to greet the approaching combat model. "Zane," the 09er introduced himself, his eyes lighting on Rand's jaw. "Cool scar."

"Thanks. I'm Rand," the X5 replied in kind, shaking the offered hand as he cast a sidelong glance at Diesel.

Zane cocked his head, scrutinizing the duffel back slung over Rand's shoulder. "Do I want to know what you had pointed at me?" he asked wryly.

"It would have left one helluva hole," Rand told him with a grin, patting the bag appreciatively. "I think that's all you really need to know."

"Fair enough," Zane conceded.

"Come on," Alec urged him with a grin. "Max is gonna flip when she sees you."

**Meanwhile at Harbour Lights…**

"Breathe, boo, just breathe."

In all her born days, Original Cindy had never expected to witness a scene such as the one she was now presented with – Max Guevara in the throes of a full-blown panic attack, brown paper bag in hand, all but hyperventilating over the results of the ultrasound that Doctor Woods had performed.

It was official. In seven months, Max was going to be a mother to a baby McDowell… God help them all.

"Cindy, I get this _one day_ to freak out! You hear me?" Max growled angrily between wheezes. "One_ lousy day_ to completely melt down over the cosmic joke that is my life! So _stop_ telling me to breathe!"

"Max, I need you to calm down," Doctor Woods urged her firmly, sitting on Max's other side. "Your body needs all the oxygen it can get right now. Slow, deep breaths, all right?"

All the fight seemed to drain out of Max and she nodded quickly, obediently trying to adjust her respiration as Cindy rubbed her back sympathetically. The poor girl looked like she wanted to cry and at that point in time Cindy wasn't sure whether it would have been from anger or relief. Cindy suspected the latter but one thing was for damn sure: Max's life had never been more complicated.

"That's better, sugar," Cindy said encouragingly as Max's breathing started to slow. "Easy now."

Some colour began to creep back into Max's cheeks. "What am I gonna tell Logan?" she whimpered with a small hiccup. "Oh God, what am I gonna tell _Alec_?"

"We'll figure somethin' out, Max," Cindy assured her, "but the truth is always a damn good start."

"What, you want me to tell Logan that I spent two days screwing Alec's brains out and now I'm having his baby?" Max asked in horror.

"Boo, getting all down 'n' dirty with hot boy was never gonna be a vanilla-flavoured kinda adventure."

Max let out a small laugh that sounded almost like a sob and snatched up the tissue that Doctor Woods handed to her. "More like double chocolate."

"With all the toppings," Cindy agreed with a grin, hoping to cheer her friend up. "Nuts and fudge."

"Max, Cindy's right," Doctor Woods told her. "I've seen a lot of situations get messy because people kept secrets. Dragging it out isn't going to do anything except raise your stress levels. If you get it over with, it'll all blow over soon enough."

"See? The doc knows what she's talkin' 'bout." Cindy quickly endorsed the advice. "And Original Cindy's got y' back, no matter what. You and the baby boo are gonna be just fine, sugah." She grasped Max's hand and the X5 female gave her a weak smile of gratitude.

"All right, I think you should take Max home," Doctor Woods decided, giving both women a kind look. "No-one likes talking about something like this in a hospital office. It's too intimidating."

"Thanks," Max said softly, her doe brown eyes still wide with anxiety.

Doctor Woods squeezed Max's shoulder gently and handed her a business card. "If you need anything, I expect you to call me. Day or night, all right?"

Max got to her feet, nodding absently to acknowledge the offer even as she moved towards the door with Cindy at her heels. The doctor didn't seem to take offence, simply moving back to her desk to organize her files as the door closed behind them.

Max didn't say a word as she and Cindy climbed onto her Ninja and started wending their way back towards Cindy's apartment in Sector Five. Even when they walked inside, Max remained silent. She just sank down onto the couch, leaning forward against the backrest, and stared out of the window. It was a bit unsettling after her behaviour at the hospital but Cindy let her be, moving around the kitchen deftly, making a pair of peanut butter sandwiches. She offered one to Max as she sat down beside her but the girl just shook her head.

"I'm not hungry," she murmured, her cheek pillowed against the worn fabric of the couch.

"Tell me what you're thinkin', boo," Cindy urged gently, setting the two plates down on the small coffee table.

Max drew in a slow, deep breath and finally met Cindy's eyes. "I was thinking about everything that's happened since the siege at Jam Pony," she whispered. "With Alec and Logan." She brushed her hair away from her face and sighed. "I don't want to do this any more."

"What don't you wanna do, sugah?" Cindy prompted her, regarding her friend patiently.

Max burrowed deeper into the couch and drew her legs up to her chest, hugging them to her. "I thought everything would just fall into place if the virus was gone," she admitted, sounding resigned rather than angry or upset. After running the gauntlet of hysteria, anger and fear for hours earlier that day, she just didn't have the energy left for any more emotional outbursts. "I thought everything would be perfect, you know? I could live a normal life… with Logan."

"I'm hearing a 'but' in there," Cindy said gently.

"I sneak out every night to get away from him," Max confessed, her dark eyes shadowed. "I just get on my baby and drive. I don't care where, I just have to get out." She sniffled slightly, looking down at her hands. "He doesn't know. I'm there when he goes to sleep and when he wakes up. I don't think it ever occurred to him that there's a whole six or seven hours in between when I'm still awake." She pursed her lips. "Alec stayed up all night with me, no questions asked. He gets it, you know? The whole nocturnal thing." Her expression became thoughtful and a hint of a smile touched her full lips. "And he makes me laugh."

"I've noticed," Cindy said with a gentle smile and after a moment's hesitation, Max nodded.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" she asked tentatively.

"Not for a second, boo," Cindy assured her. "Your boy's come a long way."

Cindy waited for a moment, wondering if Max would spout her trademark 'he's not my boy' line. Seconds ticked by and nothing happened. Cindy's lips curved upwards as she took in the softening expression on Max's face.

"I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life," Max admitted in a small, shaky voice that tugged at Cindy's heartstrings. The girl was stubborn as hell. Pulling her out of denial was and always had been a trial but once she dragged her ass out of the Land of Self-Delusion, it was amazing how fast she could throw her whole heart and soul into things. Cindy could only marvel at the weight that seemed to have momentarily lifted from Max's petite shoulders.

Cindy had no doubt that given a couple of hours, Max would freak out all over again at the prospect of sorting the whole complicated mess out but in the meantime she was quite happy to just sit and talk with the surprisingly calm X5 female. She wondered idly if it was the hormones doing this to Max, making her crazy one minute and all Zen-like the next.

Whatever it was, the next seven months would definitely be interesting.


	8. Catching Up

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Okay, so here's some 09er family goodness. Enjoy! Sorry this took so long but the site wouldn't let me upload yesterday. Grrr. By the way, are there any more nominations for the cast? Anyone? Hello? I'm a bit surprised that after all the protests I got for casting Eric Balfour as Zane, I haven't received more than one or two different ideas from anyone. Bip bip bip! lol.

**Chapter 8: Catching Up**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

"So this is the secret sanctum, huh?" Zane asked, staring up at the safehouse as Diesel sniffed around the sidewalk. "Are you seriously telling me that the Feds haven't figured out you're here?"

"Hiding in plain sight," Alec explained with a small smirk. "Seems to be working so far."

"The X-series just keep lasering off the barcodes and no-one's the wiser…" Rand continued. "Or if they are, they can't prove anything without stirring up trouble they can't afford."

"Simple but effective," Zane mused as they reached the door. "I like it. Diesel, lay down and stay down, got it?"

The German Shepherd let out a whine of protest but relented when Zane hunkered down and scratched his ears. The dog plunked himself down beside the door and rested his head on his paws, watching with mournful eyes as the trio disappeared inside.

Zane's keen eyes took in every detail, memorizing the layout of the place as Alec and Rand guided him towards the back of the building where the techs had set up the command centre for that safehouse. Alec wondered briefly how Zane would react to the transhumans. He knew Krit and Syl hadn't been too crash hot on the whole creature-feature scenario when they'd first arrived but Joshua, as always, had given them a good reason to keep an open mind.

While Rand moved over to accept a report from Brock, Zane glanced around the room, quirked an eyebrow, and sauntered in with a mock salute that made several of the transhumans guffaw in response. Somehow, Alec wasn't surprised that Zane had taken the admittedly strange scene in his stride.

"Hey, Beaver, has Max come around today?" Alec asked.

"Nope, Cindy called in a little while ago to say they'll be at her place for a couple of hours," the black-furred transhuman informed him, his curious gaze fixing on Zane, who'd been studying the transhuman with equal interest since he'd walked in. "New recruit?" he asked.

"Zane, Beaver. Beaver, Zane," Alec said quickly, gesturing back and forth.

"Designation?" Beaver asked, his manner turning professional as he brought up the transgenic registry that Logan had created.

"X5-205," Zane replied smoothly, showing no reaction whatsoever to the sharp look that Beaver shot in his direction. The transhuman's fur bristled aggressively in response.

"You're an 09er?" Beaver asked warily, his yellow eyes narrowing to angry slits.

"I've been called worse," Zane chuckled, holding out a hand to the furry transgenic. "It's a pretty sweet deal you guys have got going here."

At Zane's unruffled reaction, Beaver seemed to relax slightly and placed a clawed hand in Zane's, shaking it firmly. "It's not much but it's home."

"Story of my life," Zane agreed as Beaver's ebony fur slowly flattened back down.

"The other two are on the third floor," Beaver informed them helpfully. "The baby's with them."

"Baby?" Zane echoed, puzzled, as Alec gave Beaver a nod of thanks and led Zane towards the stairwells. "What other two?"

"You didn't think you were the only 09er to show up, did you?" Alec asked with a grin. "Krit and Syl are here. Apparently they found the whole brother-sister relationship a little confining."

"So they're playing house, huh? Complete with baby? Hmm. I guess I should have seen that one coming a mile away," Zane decided, shrugging it off. "Well, at least I'm not the only 09er on the block."

Alec grinned. "All right, I'm gonna go and drag Max's ass back here." He clapped Zane on the shoulder. "Later."

_Max must have her hands full with that guy_, Zane thought ruefully as he watched Alec stride out of sight. He shook his head and moved silently up the stairs, relishing the idea of getting the drop on his two siblings. Syl in particular had always been impossible to sneak up on. He picked what room they were in easily enough – they'd even left the door open. He could hear Syl's voice, softer and a little less nasal than he remembered it being when she was a child back at Manticore but the basic sound was unmistakable.

The fact that the baby was wailing at the top of its lungs helped too.

"Well, well…" Zane drawled from where he leaned against the doorframe to watch the two X5s try to soothe their crying child. "You two have been busy since the last time I saw you."

Two jaws dropped. Syl reacted first, spinning around and swiftly thrusting the child into Krit's arms so she could hug her brother. Zane just chuckled and leaned down to hug her back, grinning over her shoulder at Krit, who smiled as he jiggled the baby, murmuring in her ear.

Syl released Zane and promptly punched him in the arm. "Where the hell have you been, Zane?" she scolded him, glaring up at him with frazzled brown eyes.

"Sorry I'm late, baby sister," Zane said diplomatically. "I got caught in traffic." Then he cocked an eyebrow at Briar. "So are you gonna introduce us or are you just gonna let Uncle Zane stand here like an idiot?"

"This is Briar," Krit said obligingly as he walked over with the dark-haired baby girl wriggling in his grasp, her face beet-red from throwing a temper tantrum. "She's just tired." The infant X9 screeched yet again and Zane winced.

"Okay, so hypersensitive hearing and kids don't mix," he observed as he backed up a pace.

"She just won't stop," Syl complained, pushing her blonde hair away from her face with an exhausted huff. "She's been crying on and off since yesterday. I don't know what's wrong. She's been fed, she's been changed, she doesn't have wind –"

"Wow, this conversation just feels plain weird," Zane laughed softly, regarding Syl affectionately in case she took any offence. "X5s and babies is like something outta the Twilight Zone."

"Tell me about it," Krit said irritably, rolling his eyes as he hoisted Briar against his shoulder and starting circling the room. The child continued to howl, her small face screwed up into a grimace.

"Man, that kid's got good lungs," Zane said with a whistle. Syl gave him a helpless look and Zane slid an arm over her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Like her mom, huh?" Syl made a face and half-heartedly shoved him away, looking like she just wanted to drop onto the floor and sleep for a decade.

"You try making jokes after thirty-six hours of this," Krit groused as Syl pulled Zane over to the dilapidated couch and sat him down. "I thought babies were supposed to eat, sleep and shit. This wasn't anywhere on the job description."

"Well, don't expect anything constructive from my direction," Zane replied ruefully. "I must have missed the classes on child-rearing back in the day. She's the first baby I've gotten within thirty feet of."

Syl let out a groan and swatted him, letting her head fall forward into her hands. "I just don't get it. What could _possibly_ be wrong? She doesn't have a fever or anything. She's not sick as far as I can tell."

"Hey, take it easy, Silly," Zane said encouragingly, falling back on the ridiculous nickname her brothers and sisters had christened her with. He reached out and pushed back the curtain of her hair and she peeked up at him, her face flushed. "She can't scream forever."

"That's what Krit said twelve hours ago," Syl said in dismay, her brown eyes awash with desperation. "She'll sleep for a while and then start up again. None of the other X5 mothers in this place have any idea what's going on either. Even Ember wasn't sure when I called her and she's supposed to be a baby encyclopaedia."

"Yeah, the longest Bo ever threw a tantrum for was thirty-two hours," Krit deadpanned, grimacing as Briar's voice rose another decibel. "Briar officially holds the record."

"The kid aims high," Zane deadpanned. "Gotta respect that."

"Okay, not helping," Syl chided him, her frustration boiling over.

"Sorry, Silly," Zane replied sincerely. "She's beautiful… at least I think she is. It's kinda hard to tell with her face all twisted up."

"Hey!" Syl protested as Krit started laughing along with his brother. "She _is_ beautiful!"

"Syl, right now Ames White is more appealing than our little girl," Krit said with an apologetic look. "Face it. This baby has got us both on the ropes."

"So you guys don't have any babysitters?" Zane asked.

"We can't ask someone else to take care of her when she's like this," Syl growled in despair. She got to her feet and stalked into the makeshift kitchen. A helpless expression flashed across Krit's face and Zane felt genuinely sorry for the pair.

"Actually, that's not quite true," a new voice chimed in. Gem stood in the doorway, her red-brown hair framing her pretty face. "You guys are pretty wrecked, huh?"

"That's putting it mildly," Krit admitted as the female spotted Zane.

"Hey, I'm Gem."

"Zane," he replied as the young woman walked in, her moss green eyes fixed on the baby girl.

"Do you guys want me to take her for a couple of hours? Eve's with Dalton and Ember left Bo with Jett. She's gonna swing by to take a look at Briar for you," Gem offered. Syl darted out of the kitchen at that moment and surprised everyone in the room by hugging Gem so hard that Zane thought she might crack a rib.

"Thank you!' the blonde gushed in relief. "Thank you, thank you, _thank you_!"

"It's all right," Gem laughed at Syl's exuberance. Every single one of the X5 mothers knew exactly how Syl felt – they'd all experienced it at least once. Gem, Ember and Kestrel had quickly formed their own little support club and it appeared that Syl was now being invited to join. "Come on," Gem urged her, "get her things together and I'll take her off your hands.'

The sleep-deprived Syl had Briar packed up in less than a minute and Gem swung the bag over her shoulder before she lifted the sobbing child out of Krit's arms. "Okay, guys, get some sleep and give us a call when you're ready for her." With that, Gem moved out into the hallway and the infantile wails quickly faded into the distance.

Syl sank down onto the couch and let her breath out in a rush. "Silence…" she whispered, drinking it in.

"I think that's my cue to let you two get some rest," Zane said as he started to get to his feet but Syl reached out and snatched at his wrist.

"No, wait! Stay for a while," she urged him. "Please?"

"Well, I guess I've got some time to kill before Alec gets back."

"So you met Alec, huh?" Syl asked, shaking her head. "Is that twin thing spooky or what?"

"Funny, he probably thinks the same thing about you," Zane replied as he propped his feet up on the small table. "It makes sense if you think about it. With each of us costing millions, why shouldn't they get two super-soldiers out of the deal?"

"So it doesn't bother you that there's a guy running around out there somewhere with your face?" Krit asked, coming to sit down on Syl's other side, rubbing at his tired eyes.

"Nope, but it makes Lydecker look like one hell of a chump," Zane said with a good deal of satisfaction. "He spent ten years trying to hunt us down, knowing exactly what we looked like, and he still couldn't get it right. Freaks – one, Manticore – zero."

"Apparently he disappeared, you know," Syl chimed in helpfully. "Max said he called Logan with some information about those cult lunatics and they dragged his car out of a river before he could spill his guts."

"Okay, backtrack for the new guy," Zane told her. "Who's Logan and what cult lunatics?"

"Cult psychos are better known as Familiars around here," Krit replied. "Whacked-out breeding fanatics with abilities like ours. They're on the world-domination band-wagon. The way Joshua talks it up, one of these guys went all 'mad-scientist' and founded Manticore like his own private army before the military took over."

Zane raised an eyebrow but simply said: "And Logan?"

"Max's significant other," Syl piped up, blinking blearily. "She's living with him a couple of blocks from here."

"So what is he? X5?" Zane asked but Krit shook his head.

"He's human," Krit said, meeting Zane's eyes. "He's a good guy."

"Well, whatever floats your boat," Zane replied nonchalantly.

"He helped us when we blew up the Manticore DNA lab," Syl continued in Krit's place. "Well… him and Lydecker, if you can believe it. The man gouged out a Committee-member's eye to get us in."

"Yeah, I heard about that… not the eye-gouging part but the plan I heard about," Zane said grimly, recalling a few choice words he'd thrown in Zack's direction. He'd wanted in and big brother had deliberately kept him in the dark about where everything was going down, knowing that Zane would track him down if he gave even the slightest hint.

Zack had always been a little too gung-ho about putting his own life jeopardy to protect the others and it had driven Zane up the wall for as long as he could remember. At least when they'd been back at Manticore he'd had Eva to help him keep Zack in one piece. He could still picture her clearly; remember her humming nonsense at night to put the others to sleep while Ben entertained Max and Jondy with stories and shadow-puppets.

He sure as hell remembered watching helplessly as Lydecker shot her as punishment for protecting her brothers and sisters with the same fierce zeal that drove Zack. She'd been the first to follow Zack's lead, leaping into the fray and picking up the gun, firing a shot over the heads of the trainers while the others rushed to Max's aid.

Eva had held a gun on the man they all feared and hadn't backed down, even when his finger squeezed the trigger. For that, Zane would always love her and hate her – he loved her for protecting them and hated her for leaving them.

"Zane?" He looked up, brought out of his reverie by Syl waving a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Zane."

"I'm still here, baby doll," he assured her, smiling to dispel his gloomy expression as quickly as it had appeared. "Just wondering if Diesel's gonna end up as that panther-guy's next meal. Alec was threatening to turn him into cat food."

"Diesel? Who's Diesel?" Krit asked curiously.

"My dog," Zane replied as if it should have been obvious.

"You know that most of the X-series aren't all that crash hot on dogs, Zane," Krit reminded him. "As if the cat DNA wasn't enough, don't you remember getting chased around by those monsters if you got too close to the fence? I think Deck had 'em on steroids or something."

"And yet they still couldn't catch us," Zane smirked, clasping his hands behind his head. "Well, except for that time one got hold of Jack but Zack took care of that pretty damn fast. Snapped its neck like a twig. They didn't seem all that scary after that."

"Speak for yourself, Stretch," Syl grumbled. "Some of us didn't hit a growth spurt until we were fifteen and those things were _huge_."

"You realize that you're wiggin' over a dog that's afraid of balloons, right?" Zane asked with a hint of amusement. "One busted right in his face when he was a puppy and he'd been terrified of them ever since."

"No dice, Zane. Keep that toothy fuzzball away from me," Syl insisted with a sniff and Zane held up his hands in surrender.

"All right, all right, you win, _Mom_," he conceded. "Diesel sleeps outside on a leash. Happy?"

"Happy."


	9. Glutton For Punishment

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's_ so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** If any unregistered reviewers haven't already done so, please remember to put down an e-mail address with your review so that I can reply!

**Chapter 9: Glutton For Punishment**

**Sector Five, Original Cindy's Apartment**

Max had no idea how long she'd been sitting on Original Cindy's couch, sipping coffee with her friend, when she heard the telltale rumble of a motorcycle engine. She stiffened and turned to peer out of the window at the street below. Sure enough, a lime green Bandit purred and finally fell silent as Alec brought the vehicle to a halt outside of the apartment building. Her sharp intake of breath wasn't lost on Cindy.

"Boo? What's wrong?"

"It's Alec," Max said softly, her conflicting feelings written plainly across her face. "Oh God, I can't talk to him yet, OC. I have to straighten things out with Logan first."

"You can't put this off forever, sugah," Cindy advised her and Max nodded.

"I know, I just need some time to get my head around this before I try explaining it to him," Max told her, her dark eyes pleading with her friend. "Please? Can you run interference?" The brunette didn't even wait for an answer. She blurred into Cindy's bedroom and left her friend to wait for a knock at the door.

Original Cindy sighed and opened said door to find Alec waiting on the other side, looking as devilishly handsome as ever. His green-gold eyes sparkled with warmth as he smiled at her.

"Hey, Cindy," he greeted her amiably, obediently kissing the cheek that she tapped with her finger before he stepped over the threshold.

"So what brings your feline self to my crib?" Cindy asked. "Cause a booty call ain't my style."

"Well, I was hoping to steal Max away for a while," Alec said with a grin, rubbing his hand together. "I've got a surprise for her."

"I don't think that girl can handle any more o' your surprises today, hot boy," Cindy replied, fixing him with a stern glance as Alec's expression became perplexed.

"What?" he asked in obvious puzzlement but Cindy waved him off.

"Nothin'," she said dismissively. "Look, Max isn't feeling so hot right now, Alec."

"Is she all right?" Alec asked in concern.

"She's fine, she's just havin herself a bad day," Cindy informed him crisply. "How 'bout you give my boo some space and she'll swing by when she's ready?"

"Well, I would but I happen to have the perfect thing to cheer her up," Alec declared.

"I think you've done enough," Cindy replied, one eyebrow rising as she stared him down.

"Okay, passive aggressive," Alec decided with a sigh of resignation. "What does she think I've done this time?" Then he glanced around the apartment. "Better question: why isn't she kicking my ass for it personally?"

"Alec, this ain't the time," Cindy insisted but Alec didn't budge.

"All right, where's she hiding?" Alec asked softly, folding his arms across his chest as he gazed down at Original Cindy with a knowing gleam in his hazel eyes. "Cindy?"

With one final exasperated look, Cindy nodded her head in the direction of her bedroom and the male X5 strode briskly across the room to knock on the door.

"Max?" he called out. "Max, come on, I know you're in there. I saw your Ninja downstairs."

Max sagged against the door, wanting to sink into the ground. Her plan had been to spend the night at Cindy's, to get her emotions back under control before she had to face Alec or Logan. Now the father of her child was standing on the other side of the wooden barrier with no idea of the havoc he was wreaking with the sound of his voice alone. He had a great voice, one that almost sounded like a purr when he whispered and a growl when he was angry... or aroused. She shivered at the thought.

_Okay, stop_, she thought ruthlessly. _You love the guy? Fine. But getting hot over his voice? No way. It's just too humiliating_.

That was why she'd wanted to keep her distance for at least twenty-four hours. She was over-analysing everything from how good his voice sounded to how steamy his kisses were. She wanted to get it all out of her system before she saw him and regain some perspective. After all, this was Alec she was thinking about. Wise-cracking, fun-loving, philandering Alec.

_Well, maybe not philandering so much any more_, she admitted to herself, then grimaced. _I take it back. He's philandering with the redhead_. That thought hit her like a bucket of cold water. _Suck it up, Max_, she chastised herself and drew in a deep breath. Then she squared her shoulders and opened the door.

For what seemed like an eternity, Max just looked at him – _really_ looked, as she hadn't allowed herself to do in months. She gazed into the vivid green-gold eyes, memorized the curve of his mouth, the chiselled jaw. She knew that Manticore had made them beautiful. She knew that beneath his clothes he was lean, his muscles as sculpted as his face. She knew that he looked like a little boy when he slept, that he didn't use cologne and didn't back down in the face of her temper. She knew all of that but she'd never really absorbed it before. She'd been too afraid of what it might mean.

Alec wasn't quite sure what to make of the way she was looking at him. For a second, the Manticore mask seemed to evaporate and her dark eyes softened. "Max?" he prompted her softly, a wondering expression on his face. Then she seemed to abruptly snap out of it.

"What do you want, Alec?" she asked impatiently.

"Nice to see you too, Maxie," he replied with a flash of his trademark smirk, her frosty demeanour not bothering him in the least. "Do you always shoot the messenger?"

_Stop it!_ she thought angrily, the sight of him – handsome and far too self-assured for her liking – sparking her temper. _Stop looking at me like I'm your next meal when you're playing around with Dee and I'm the one who's pregnant with your baby!_

"Spit it out, Alec," Max said warningly as her imagination helpfully went wild with the idea of the blue-eyed redhead in bed with _her_ mate.

_Oh God… did I just think of him as my mate?_ Max thought in rising panic. Some of her emotions must have shown on her face because Alec was starting to regard her with a little bit of anxiety.

"Max, what's going on? Why are you hiding out in here?" he asked, his green-gold eyes as gentle as his voice. He stepped closer and reached out to stroke her arm reassuringly. Max jerked away from his touch, not trusting herself not to do something stupid like kissing him in her vulnerable state but Alec clearly misread the motion. His hand dropped to his side and his eyes became guarded, unreadable.

Max hated it when he did that. It was worse to know she'd been the cause of it.

"Alec," she continued through gritted teeth. "What do you want?"

He quirked an eyebrow and shook his head ruefully. "I was doing my good deed for the day," he informed her archly, falling back on his usual sarcasm, "and ironically, I was doing it for you but hey, if you want to lock yourself up and mope, be my guest."

"Alec, tell me or I'll kick your ass."

"Promises, promises," he replied, his eyes twinkling as he tried to get a rise out of her. When she continued to glare at him, he relented. "All right, there's a surprise waiting for you in Sector Three."

"Okay. What is it?" she asked but he just gave her _that_ smile – the quicksilver smile that made his eyes sparkle and her stomach flip.

"I don't think you're clear on the whole surprise concept," Alec chuckled, his mobile lips curving upwards as he gazed at her, shamelessly cajoling her into agreeing. "Come on, Maxie, you're gonna thank me for this, I swear."

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Max grumbled, though there wasn't a great deal of anger behind it.

"I'm not dragging you to the gallows, Max. Will you lighten up?"

"Okay, okay," she said a little too quickly. "Where are we going?"

"Safehouse number eight," Alec replied, his eyes dancing. He gave her a mocking bow and stepped aside. "After you."

"How about I meet you there?" she offered instead. "I don't want to leave my motorcycle here."

"Whatever," he concurred with a small shrug, her noticeable lack of enthusiasm kind of sucking the fun out of the exercise. "Just swing by sometime this century, all right?"

"I just need to clear my head. Give me an hour."

He gave her a measuring look and his lips twisted slightly. "Are you sure you're okay, Max?"

She nodded mutely, pushing her long hair back behind her ear. "I'm fine. I'll be there."

"Okay," he said slowly, as if he wasn't sure he should take her at her word. "Later, Maxie."

"Later," she echoed faintly as he flashed her one last smile and swiftly hugged the imperious Cindy. By the time the door closed behind him, Max was chewing her lower lip hard enough to break the skin.

"I think that went aiight, boo," Cindy said with an air of satisfaction. "Kept your cool, stayed in control o' the situation. Original Cindy's proud o' you."

"Don't be proud of me yet," Max cautioned her. "Alec's surprises have a way of backfiring."

"The boy could see you were spun, plain as day," her friend replied. "He's too smart to let somethin' bite you or him in the ass. You know that."

"It's the things he doesn't see coming that worry me."

**One Hour Later…**

When Max finally pulled up outside the safehouse and began wheeling her motorcycle inside, she was rather surprised to find a German Shepherd napping beside the door. The dog opened its eyes and lifted an ear as she passed but otherwise remained motionless, not caring in the last that the X5 female was giving him a wide berth.

_Okay, what idiot brought that thing to a transgenic safehouse?_ she fumed silently, her mouth twisting into a grimace. _If that's Alec's surprise, I'll kill him_.

"Hey, Maxie, you made it."

Max whirled around at the sound of Alec's voice and found him striding out of the makeshift command centre, a welcoming smile on his lips.

"Yeah, well, curiosity's a character flaw of mine," she reminded him, her hand coming to rest on her hips. "All right, you got me here. What's such a big deal that you had to hunt me down like that dog that's sitting outside?"

Alec regarded her strangely for a moment. She was radiating several emotions with impatience and hostility leading the charge. "Gee, Max, your enthusiasm is overwhelming," he said sarcastically, more than a little irked by her attitude.

_Great, now I'm punishing him for something he doesn't even know about._ _Just get it over with_, an insistent voice in the back of her mind urged her. _Tell him everything and then it's up to him_. _It'll be done, one way or the other!_

"Come with me," he told her, moving towards the stairs.

"Uh… Alec, wait a second. Can I talk to you in private?" she asked tentatively, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him from walking off.

"You know, I could be wrong but don't most people _want_ to find out what surprises are?" Alec joked and the last vestiges of Max's forbearance vanished. She placed herself squarely between him and the stairwell.

"Alec, this is not the time for your games, okay?" Max seized his arm, determination written across her features. "We have to talk. Now." _Before I lose my nerve_, she thought privately.

"Max, what the hell –"

"Shut up."

Max spun around, prepared to drag Alec out of the room, and bounced off a broad chest belonging to an X5 she hadn't heard approaching her from behind. Her eyes widened as she looked up – and up and _up_ – at the freakishly tall, familiar transgenic male she'd collided with. Brandy brown eyes crinkled as he smiled and reached out to steady her. Her jaw dropped in surprise and she instantly released Alec's bicep.

"Hey, Maxie," he said in a rich, laughing baritone voice that she wouldn't have envisioned for him in a million years. Somehow, she'd always thought of him as a tenor. "Long time, no see."

"Zane?" Max leapt into his outstretched arms, grinning ecstatically as he enfolded her in a bear hug just the way he used to back at Manticore. "Oh my God! When did you get here? What are you doing here?"

"That, baby sister, is a long story."


	10. Oh Brother

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **This is for anyone who thought Zane was ultra-laid-back _all_ the time. Brax's story will resurface soon, I promise!

**Chapter 10: Oh Brother**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

As much as Max hated admitting that Alec was right, she was prepared to concede the field without a fight this time. Zane's arrival was the best news she'd had in two months.

"I was worried about you and the others when that nation-wide Eyes Only Hack went out," Max admitted to her big brother as they sat together in what passed for Krit and Syl's living room. The couple in question had finally crashed out in the next room, catching up on badly needed sleep while their siblings talked.

Zane's lips twitched. "Yeah, Zack mentioned that was your handiwork after he got Tinga to Canada," he told her appreciatively. "Nice job."

"Zack called you?" she asked, a little surprised to hear it. Zack had always been so strict about limiting unnecessary contact. Hell, he'd even refused to give her the contact number the others used to reach him.

"You bet he did," Zane replied with an air of satisfaction. "Big brother knew better than to leave _me_ hanging, waiting around to find out if his ass needed rescuing."

Max smiled at the image that comment provoked. She'd wondered if that part of the unit's command structure had remained intact. She and the others might have answered to Zack when it came to their safety but Zack had always been answerable to Zane and Eva. At least some things never changed.

"Have you heard from him?" Zane asked, gazing at her intently. Max's dark eyes flew up to meet his brandy brown ones. His expression was impassive but she thought she caught a flicker of hope in those eyes. Mutely, she shook her head. For a long moment they simply sat in silence.

"You miss him, don't you?" Max finally asked.

"Of course I do. He was my brother," Zane replied as if he was surprised that she even had to ask. "He used to come around to check on all of us as often as he could but sometimes it'd be months before he turned up again."

"I didn't see him again until about two years ago," Max said with a sigh. "He wanted me to get out of Seattle."

"He gave you the whole 'my-way-or-the-highway' speech?" Zane asked knowingly.

"Yeah," Max replied with a rueful nod. "He was pretty intense."

"Zack wasn't always like that," Zane told her, his voice heavy with regret. "He was still the overprotective big brother but he knew where the line was. He actually relaxed for a while, started to live a little."

"What happened?" Max asked, frowning slightly in consternation.

"Manticore played him," Zane replied, his tone as glacial as his eyes. "He let his guard down and they nearly caught both of us. I don't think he ever forgave himself for that."

Max felt her heart sink at the picture he painted for her with so few words. She'd spent ten years searching for her siblings and on the night that she finally encountered Zack, she'd been disheartened by his hard, world-weary exterior yet she'd caught glimpses of the caring brother she remembered.

"_They did a good job on you, Max_," he'd said gently… sadly, reaching out to slip a finger beneath her chin. "_You turned out okay."_

Suddenly Max found herself wishing that she'd known Zack as Zane described him. But then again, she had, hadn't she? When he'd regained his memory and cried in her arms after so many months as an automaton. Later she'd seen him smile and even joke a little, opening up to her friends. He'd even admitted to liking Sketchy. Was that the kind of life Zack had now? Unfettered by the cruel memories of Manticore, of his years as a fugitive and endless self-sacrifice, was he happy?

Max had to believe that he was. He had the normal life he'd always craved.

Zane moved around to sit on the coffee table directly across from her so he could look her squarely in the face. "Max, I know this probably isn't the kind of conversation you want to have right now but I need to know what happened after Tinga was killed."

Max pursed her lips, her gut twisting painfully not only at the memory but at the prospect of reliving it. Even worse, she now knew he was trying to find out what had happened to Zack – why he'd vanished into thin air – and she _couldn't_ tell him.

It would kill Zane to know what Manticore had done to Zack, to know that Renfro had used him as a living, breathing organ farm before turning him into a mechanical science project with no memory of anything that or anyone that mattered to him. It would kill Zane to know that he hadn't been there to stop it.

"Zane, I…"

"Krit and Syl said he was killed in action."

The words were stark with no emotional inflection whatsoever. Max met his brandy brown eyes and suddenly found them devoid of their customary lazy amusement with the world and its inhabitants. Instead, they were begging her to tell him it wasn't true.

"I was shot," she choked out, trying without success to tear her gaze away from Zane's. "I didn't see it but… after they told me that Zack… that he shot himself."

Zane went absolutely still, his brown eyes darkening as that knowledge sank in.

"I needed a heart," Max stammered and she could clearly see the wheels turning in Zane's head as he pieced those few pieces of information together. His jaw clenched but he didn't say a word. His eyes dropped to her chest and Max had the uncomfortable feeling that he was seeing right through her skin. She tried not to squirm under his scrutiny but failed miserably.

Zane abruptly got to his feet. "I need some air," he murmured tersely, stalking towards the door.

"Zane…"

He paused with his hand on the door handle and glanced back over at Max, who was looking at him with a stricken expression on her beautiful face. "Just… give me a minute, all right?"

Max nodded, unable to speak around the lump in her throat as she watched Zane close the door quietly behind him. The male X5 padded down the stairs and let out a piercing whistle as he strode towards the back door. Outside, Diesel jumped to his feet and after a few seconds of nosing around the closed front door, he barked and loped his way around the building to find his master.

Zane had sat down on the crumbling retaining wall of what was once a garden, staring down at the sparse patches of brown grass that decorated the all-but-dead courtyard. Apparently none of the transgenics had a green thumb. Diesel crossed the yard at a flat-out run and almost bowled Zane over, making him smile briefly.

"It doesn't look like we're gonna find him, boy," Zane said sadly, stroking the dog's ears. Diesel let out a soft whine, his tail hanging lifelessly behind him. With a sigh, Zane lowered himself onto the ground and let Diesel nuzzle him affectionately, whimpering at his master's sorrow.

_Zack shot himself_.

Max's words echoed through his mind over and over and he gritted his teeth angrily. It was beyond wrong that both Eva and Zack had died on the business end of a gun. It was wrong that they had died at all.

At Manticore they'd all had their own little groups, even within their unit. Max had always been closest to Ben and Jondy. Tinga had mothered Jack, Kavi and Vada. Seth had watched over Brin and Jace while Krit and Syl had been inseparable.

Zack and Eva had been his, stupid as that probably sounded, and now both of them were gone. Both taken by Manticore. Rage coiled itself inside of him, wrapping itself around his heart and lungs, black and oily and so all-encompassing that he wanted to hurt something. Anything. Yet at the same time, his instincts screamed a denial.

Something wasn't right. He felt it in his gut.

Then again, he'd had the same sensation in the pit of his stomach after Eva had died. He hadn't been able to shake it for months, his intuition telling him that something was off. It had faded… eventually… but it had put up a damn good fight before retreating into his subconscious.

_Zack is dead_.

No matter how many times that thought circled around in his head, it refused to sink in. It was throwing itself against the door in his mind, fighting to break through but it couldn't.

"Hell fucking no," Zane growled, jumping to his feet to pace the length of the courtyard as he forced his emotions back under lock and key. Diesel trailed at his heels, nudging his master's hand with his nose until Zane stopped and gave his fur another vigorous rubbing. He hugged the dog to him quickly and Diesel's tongue lapped at his cheek, making Zane chuckle.

"What would I do without you, huh?" Zane murmured with a sigh. Diesel's tail started wagging enthusiastically and he barked happily. "All right, boy, you stay here while I go and make sure Max doesn't think I've skipped out on her. Stay put, capiche?"

The dog plunked his behind onto the ground obediently and Zane gave him one last, quick scratch behind the ears before striding back into the building. He made his way up to Krit and Syl's apartment and found Max exactly where he'd left her. She looked up at him with wide brown eyes, searching his face for any hint of condemnation.

"Sorry, Maxie," he said softly, flashing her a lopsided smile to take the sting out of his abrupt exit a few minutes earlier. She relaxed slightly as he sat down beside her, looking as cool and composed as he had the moment she'd first laid eyes on him downstairs.

"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

"Right as rain."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to knock once in a while," Shaine rebuked Rand from her bedroom as he strode into her apartment and closed the door behind him. He followed her voice and found her on her knees, digging through a box of Brax's clothes. His smile faltered for a second but he managed to resurrect it before she noticed.

"Aw, come on, you love it when I show up outta nowhere," he teased her as he propped himself against the doorframe. "Keeps you on your toes."

"Maybe but it also gets on my nerves," she told him, finally dragging a black bomber jacket out into the light of day. She held the jacket up to her nose and breathed in Brax's scent for a long moment, not caring that she had an audience. Then she slipped into the jacket and pulled her long dark hair out from underneath, letting it fall around her shoulders in rippling waves.

Rand carefully kept his expression neutral, knowing she wouldn't tolerate any signs of sympathy from him, or anyone for that matter. She brushed past him, heading for the small kitchenette. Rand tried not to let his temper get the better of him. The girl had been swinging between surly and stoic for the last two months, an attitude that was starting to erode his patience with her.

"Early dinner?" he asked as she dropped two pieces of bread into an old toaster.

"Nope," Shaine replied with an irritated huff. "Apparently I should be eating more."

At four months, Shaine's pregnancy was finally starting to show. Her stomach had curved outwards just enough that she was starting to become concerned that her jeans wouldn't fit for much longer. She glared down at the toaster as if the heat from her stare might cook the bread faster.

Rand took a moment to study her appearance and tried not to frown at her. She'd lost weight – definitely a bad sign when she ought to be putting it on instead. She looked tired and there were faint dark circles under her eyes. All in all, she was a mess.

"So where's the blonde?" Shaine asked, her voice dripping with contempt as she batted her lashes dramatically. "Keeping house for her new bestest friend?"

"_Jess_ is back in Sector Five," Rand replied, giving her a quelling glance, "and don't start."

"I was your second for over ten years, Rand," Shaine reminded him, "so I'm going to tell you want I think whether you like it or not."

"Why don't you just hit me over the head with a baseball bat and get it over with?" he suggested dryly.

"She's trouble," Shaine impressed upon him. "It's just a matter of time before she does something crazy or stupid or maybe even both. You know what stealths are like."

"You're generalizing," he admonished her. "Alec's a stealth and he's leading this outfit."

"Alec grew up," Shaine replied without missing a beat. "Jess hasn't."

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh?" Rand temporized. "Look, I'm not saying that Jess is gonna be up for any community service awards in the near future but she's not that bad."

"She's a train wreck in the making."

Rand stifled a groan of frustration. They'd had this argument several times already and they never got anywhere. Shaine, like Max and the rest of the tough-chick-clique, just couldn't get along with Jess and the blonde had made absolutely no effort to improve matters.

"Shaine, I appreciate the sisterly concern but it's none of your business," Rand said through gritted teeth.

"Friends with benefits usually burns out after a couple of weeks. _Your_ flings usually don't make it past a couple of days so forgive me if I'm curious about what this girl's got on you," Shaine replied acerbically.

"Well, since you were my second for all of those years, I think we can agree that I'm a big boy and I can handle myself."

"Yeah, I'm sure Brax thought the same thing," she said bitterly as the toast popped up. "Look where that got him."

_Shit_… "Shaine, come on, that's not fair," Rand protested, his stomach wrenching at the mention of his lost brother. Of all the transgenics who'd escaped Manticore, he'd been closest to Brax. To have Shaine throw that comment in his face hurt.

"It's not fair that he's dead but I didn't get a say in that either, did I?" she shot back angrily, stabbing the toast she'd been intending to butter. "Are you forgetting that she's Arizona Platoon? Do you even remember what that unit was like?"

"Yeah, I remember," Rand snapped. _Okay, when did I become the designated punching bag for females with emotional baggage?_ Rand demanded internally, glancing up at the ceiling. _Huh? I realize that I've killed a fucking lot of people but come on! Do I really deserve this shit?_

"What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?" Shaine demanded, her blazing dark eyes boring into his blue ones. "Nobody in their right mind wants anything to do with anyone in that unit but you're acting like she's some kitten you can just take home and domesticate!"

"Hey, let's not forget that you're no angel either, Shaine!" Rand shot back, his temper finally reaching its limit. "We're _all _dangerous. Built that way, trained that way, so don't give me that self-righteous bullshit! If you don't like her, that's your problem, not mine." He shook his head and stalked towards the door, grumbling "Why do I bother?"

With her hypersensitive hearing, Shaine heard that last comment and her face fell. "Rand, wait!" she called after him, blurring to block his exit.

"What for? You gonna heap more abuse on me and 'the blonde'?" he snarked angrily, glowering down at her.

"I'm just trying to protect you!" she argued.

"I. Don't. Need. Protection," Rand told her, enunciating each word slowly and clearly. "Look, Shaine, I am sorry about Brax. I would have given anything to save his life but I can't change what happened, so _stop_ punishing me for it!"

"I'm not punishing you –"

"Oh, right, so you're giving me this shit out of the goodness of your heart?"

"I don't want what happened to Brax to happen to you!"

"It won't!" Rand insisted, only just realizing that he'd been shouting at her. He took a deep breath and made a concerted effort to lower the volume of his voice as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "It won't, okay?"

"That's what everyone says," Shaine replied quietly as she hugged herself, looking vulnerable for the first time in two months. Rand's anger dissipated in the face of her misery and it finally hit him why she'd been so set against him having anything to do with 'the dangerous blonde'. His shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Shaine, come here," Rand said gently, pulling her into his arms. She didn't resist and Rand pressed a comforting kiss to her forehead as he hugged her. "It's gonna be okay, baby sister. I'm not going anywhere."

"Brax did," Shaine sniffled. "He said he wouldn't and he did."

"I know," he murmured against her hair, then locked eyes with her. "Do you really think I'm gonna check out on my little sister when she's got a baby on the way? Come on…" He grinned at her, hoping to tease her back into good spirits. "Where's the fun in that?"

Shaine pushed him away with a growl and let her breath out in a rush. "Don't joke."

"I'm not joking," he told her sincerely. "I'll still be getting on your nerves when you're sixty. It's part of the big-brother job description."

"Promise?" she asked, chewing her lower lip anxiously.

"I promise."

"Good. Cause if you die too I'll hunt your ass down and drag you back, got it?"

Rand chuckled at the idea of Shaine marching into Hell and hauling his ass out of there.

"I've got it."


	11. Men and Dogs

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **First, nominations for the cast will close when I post chapter 12, so if you want to submit any last minute ideas now is the time. Second, keep the theories coming – I adore hearing what you think is in store for the BIS universe! Maybe I should start a forum or something. lol. Just kidding!

**Chapter 11: Men and Dogs**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Max stood in front of Krit and Syl's mirror, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before facing anyone outside of the apartment. Zane had decided that he needed a drink and on impulse she'd offered to show him the nearest bar. Max herself could have used a beer but it had suddenly occurred to her that her pregnancy had ruled out alcohol consumption.

Yet another pleasant side effect of being a walking incubator.

"Maxie, are you coming?" Zane called, knocking on the closed bathroom door.

"Yeah, just a second," Max replied quickly. She drew in a deep breath and smoothed back her dark hair. _Okay, it's just a friendly non-drink with the big brother you just lied to about your other big brother who's alive but has no idea who or what he is. No biggie. I can handle this._

She opened the door and smiled up at Zane, who was lolling against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. He grinned down at her, his warm brandy brown eyes resting on her face.

"You're not getting all girly on me, are you, baby sister?" he teased but she just rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest with her finger.

"Just for that, the first round's on you," she told him as he followed her out the door.

"Who am I to argue with a lady?" Zane agreed with a crooked smile that made Max suspect that the female of the species was far from immune to his brand of charisma.

_What is it with X5 males and tomcat tendencies?_ Max wondered idly, her lips twitching as they descended the stairs and spotted two familiar males talking in the corridor. _First Alec, then Rand and now Zane. God, could you imagine those three in a room together? That'd be one helluva party._

"Hey, Alec, Rand, you guys feel like a drink?" Zane asked, echoing Max's thoughts and surprising the hazel-eyed X5 and his friend with the offer. "We're heading out."

Max froze for a second, torn between cursing Zane and kissing him as the two men exchanged a curious look.

"Sounds good to me," Rand decided with a small shrug. "I could use a drink."

Alec spared a glance at Max, who forced a small smile. His eyes took on a speculative gleam for a moment before his lips curved up slightly. "I'm in."

_Wonderful_, Max thought dryly, shooting Zane an uncertain look out of the corner of her eye. _Okay, so not only can I not drink because Alec knocked me up but now Zane's buddied up to Alec and Rand in record time. Could this day get any worse?_

"That's okay with you, isn't it, Maxie?" Zane asked as he passed her and approached Alec and Rand. Max swallowed hard at the sight.

Zane was easily six foot four with the trademark muscular build of the combat models. Combined with brandy brown eyes and near-black hair that curled close to his scalp, he wasn't good-looking in the traditional sense but he was arresting to look at. Rand, on the other hand, was on the other side of the scale with a devilishly handsome face, short chestnut hair and piercing blue eyes. Then, of course, there was Alec – Manticore's premiere pretty boy – with his dark golden hair, hazel eyes and lean, athletic frame.

The three of them together made an impressive and rather striking visual statement.

"Max?" Alec prompted her when she didn't immediately reply.

"Yeah, that's fine," she replied with a nod, moving down the remainder of the stairs to join them.

"Do you guys mind if I leave Diesel here?" Zane asked. "I can't exactly take him into a bar."

Alec grimaced dramatically. "Only if you want him to get eaten. Beaver _really_ likes dogs."

"Joshua can look after Diesel," a deep voice said and Zane spun around to find himself face-to-face with a shaggy-haired canine transhuman who was tall enough to look him in the eyes. The dog-man carried a worn, slightly charred copy of Huckleberry Finn.

"Hey, Big Fella!" Max hugged Joshua with a happy smile on her face. Joshua ruffled her dark hair playfully and Max ducked away while Zane quirked an eyebrow at the new arrival.

"Take him for a walk to Sector Five," Joshua continued.

"What's in Sector Five, Josh?" Alec asked curiously.

"Have to give book back to Jess," Joshua replied, indicating the tome he was holding. "Back in a few hours."

Zane glanced at Max, who nodded encouragingly, and his lips curved into a lopsided smile. "All right, big guy," he said amiably, holding out a hand to Joshua. "You've got yourself a deal."

Joshua grinned and clasped Zane's hand, shaking it energetically.

"All right, let's get moving," Zane said, rubbing his hands together. "There's a bottle of whisky out there somewhere with my name on it."

**Sector Five, Safehouse Seven**

Joshua arrived at the safehouse under the cover of darkness with Diesel trotting happily at his side. The dog had taken an immediate shine to the canine transhuman and hadn't hesitated to follow him out of Sector Three. Zane had been rather bemused by his pet's defection but had taken it in his stride, figuring he could use a reliable dog-sitter from time to time.

The German Shepherd had proven to be quite affectionate and Joshua was enjoying the company.

"Hey, Joshua," Kestrel greeted him, then raised an eyebrow as she spotted his four-legged companion. "Making new friends, huh?"

"This is Diesel," Joshua supplied helpfully. "Little brother won't hurt anyone."

"No offence but I'm gonna keep my distance," Kestrel said cautiously.

"Is Jess upstairs?" Joshua asked and Kestrel nodded.

"Yeah, she's scrounging viable computer parts out of the scrap we've been picking up," Kestrel told him. "She's been at it ever since Rand left. She probably needs a break by now but I don't know if the dog is such a good idea."

"Diesel harmless," Joshua insisted.

"If you say so," Kestrel replied sceptically as she stepped aside to let Joshua go about his business. With a nod, Joshua began climbing the stairs. However, halfway up, Diesel stilled like a bloodhound that had caught a scent. Then with an excited bark, he darted up the stairs and ran down the corridor.

"Little brother?" Joshua called, then let out a series of barks as he chased Diesel towards the salvage room. "Jess…" Joshua started to yell a warning only to be cut off by a startled squawk and the _thump_ of a body hitting the ground. He darted down the hallway to the doorway in question and smiled at the sight.

Surrounded by piles of scrap, Jess was laughing as the dog jumped all over her, licking her face and whuffling happily as she sat sprawled out on the floor where Diesel had knocked her over in his enthusiasm. She finally managed to shift the dog's weight so that she could sit up and looped an arm over his shoulders, rubbing his chest and neck with her free hand.

"Hey, Josh," Jess greeted the dog-man warmly, looking up at him from where she was running her fingers through Diesel's fur. She spotted the book in his hands. "You finished that one already?"

"I like Mark Twain," Joshua said, beaming at Jess in approval as Diesel dropped down on the floor and rolled onto his back so that Jess could scratch his belly. "Diesel likes you."

"Diesel?" Jess glanced back at the animal lapping up her attention. Her smile momentarily faltered.

"Belongs to Zane. Dog-sitting," Joshua supplied helpfully.

"Zane?" Jess echoed. "As in 09er Zane?"

"Max's brother."

"Imagine that," Jess said dryly.

"Is Jess all right?" Joshua asked, regarding her curiously.

"It's nothing," Jess shrugged with a nonchalance she didn't feel. "It's just turning into an 09er convention around here, that's all."

"You don't like 09ers? Max's brothers and sisters?" Joshua mused, his shrewd gaze fixed on her face.

"Oh, you mean because we got thrown into PsyOps for six months after our rugrat twins scaled the fence?" Jess asked sweetly, her good mood evaporating with dizzying speed. "What's not to like?"

"Zane is nice," Joshua insisted. "Jess will like him."

"Look, he can do his thing and I'll do mine," Jess bit out, knowing even as the words left her mouth that it wasn't fair to make Joshua her emotional whipping-boy. It was bad enough that Rand had already been on the receiving end of her temper, let alone the gentle giant before her.

"Jess very angry," Joshua decided. "Angry at everyone."

"I'm _not_ angry at everyone!" Jess protested, getting defensive in the face of the Joshua's acute emotional insight. Diesel shied away, whimpering softly and Jess huffed in frustration. "Great, just great! Now I've scared the dog."

Joshua cocked his head slightly, watching the blonde with sympathetic blue eyes.

"Josh, please don't psychoanalyse me," Jess pleaded softly.

"Psychoanalyse?"

"Oh… uh…" Jess blinked, momentarily distracted as she reached for an explanation. "It means you're trying to figure out what's going on inside someone's head."

"Just telling the truth," Joshua shrugged and Jess softened.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, brushing her long hair away from her face. "I keep snapping at everyone. I'm surprised I haven't gotten a punch in the mouth yet."

"I can take care of that," a venomous voice pointed out. Jess groaned as she looked up at the doorway. Sure enough, Fallon was glaring daggers at her yet again.

Fallon, like Max, was one of the most exotic X5 females. She had long black hair, equally black eyes and bronzed skin that most women would kill for. Unfortunately, she also didn't hesitate to sink to a level of bitchiness that Max had never explored on her worst day.

"What do you want this time, Fallon?" Jess asked coldly, not bothering to make even a token attempt at civility. "Don't you have anything better to do with your time than threaten me?"

"I might if you hadn't murdered Quinn," Fallon shot back, advancing into the room only to find Joshua blocking her path, growling softly.

"Josh." Jess got to her feet in one fluid movement to place a cautionary hand on his shoulder. "I've got it."

"Are you sure?" Joshua asked softly, looking down at the blonde-haired girl, who nodded.

"It's just girl talk, big guy," she assured him, fixing Fallon with a warning stare. "I promise."

"Sure. Girl talk," Fallon agreed tautly.

"Be careful," Joshua cautioned the blonde.

"I know. Thanks, Josh," Jess said with a reassuring smile. "How about you go and raid my book collection? Take whatever you want."

"Won't be far," Joshua told her. He squeezed her shoulder and with one final look at Fallon, he walked out.

"Damn. I was looking forward to kicking your ass in front of an audience," Fallon sneered as Joshua's footsteps receded into the distance, then eyed Diesel speculatively. "Good to see you mixing with your own kind."

"What. Do. You. Want?" Jess said again through gritted teeth.

"Your head on a plate would be a great start," Fallon replied without hesitation. "Maybe with a couple of garnishes, a bit of dressing, an apple in your mouth."

"Why am I not surprised at the idea of you turning cannibal?" Jess deadpanned, rolling her blue-green eyes as she felt Diesel tense where he was nuzzling up against her leg. Animals were always sensitive to those kind of vibes. "Great use of imagery, by the way. Very stirring."

"I'd stop joking around if I were you. It's hazardous to your health."

"Well, Fallon, I would but from where I'm standing, you're pretty funny. Now be a good girl and go home."

"And deprive myself of the pleasure of your misery?" Fallon asked, her lips twisting into a smirk. "I think not."

"Please," Jess drawled contemptuously. "No-one here's done anything to deserve having you inflicted on them."

"Except killing my mate," Fallon growled, eyes blazing as she advanced on Jess, who didn't give an inch.

"You'd have done the same thing in my position."

"I'd have killed a man who had no control over what he was doing?" Fallon scoffed angrily. "No. I'd have found another way –"

"You weren't there, Fallon!" Jess shot back hotly. "You weren't there so don't you talk to me about what you would have done if it had been you! You're lucky all I did was kill him!"

Fallon's fist slammed into Jess' face with enough force to make the blonde stagger back a step. The next thing Jess knew, she felt a hand twist into her hair and cold steel press against her neck.

"One more word and I'll slit your throat," Fallon warned, her black eyes burning. Jess didn't move a muscle. She just held Fallon's gaze calmly, seemingly oblivious to the knife that was threatening to break her skin.

"Do it if you're going to," Jess said simply. "I'm sick of this game."

"Game?" Fallon demanded furiously, digging the blade into Jess' neck so that it drew blood. "You killed Quinn and you think this is a _fucking game_? Maybe I should take someone you care about. It'd be so easy to play sniper… those boys of yours would never see it coming."

Jess snatched Fallon's wrist and twisted it, heedless of the way the blade dug into her skin as the fingers of her free hand wrapped themselves around the brunette's throat. The knife clattered to the floor as Jess bodily threw her opponent against the wall.

"Game over," Jess whispered menacingly as she began to squeeze. "Now I want you to understand something, Fallon. I _am_ a killer. I killed Quinn. I almost killed Slade and if you so much as breathe in the direction of 'my boys', I'll be the one playing sniper. Is that in any way unclear?"

Fallon's black eyed blazed with defiance as she struggled against Jess' grip.

"Do. You. Understand?" Jess ground out and Fallon finally nodded. With that, Jess abruptly released her and stepped back. "Good," Jess said with satisfaction as Fallon rubbed at her bruised throat. "Get something straight. If you have a problem with me, you deal with me. If I hear you talking shit to anyone – especially Alec or Rand – I might just have to hurt you."

Fallon glared balefully at Jess.

"You got lucky."

"You got sloppy," Jess corrected her. "Now get the hell out before I lose my temper."

"Don't give me orders, you murdering bitch," Fallon growled.

"Fallon, we established that I'm a murdering bitch about six weeks ago," Jess said with a long-suffering sigh. "Now, are you done or do you have more threats to throw in my direction?" When Fallon didn't reply, choosing to glower instead, Jess nodded. "Well then, I'm sure you'll stop by tomorrow to give me my daily dose of guilt and violence," the blonde chirped. "Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out."

Jess grimaced as the door slammed shut and turned back to the dog that was staring up at her with beautiful liquid brown eyes. She slid down the wall until her backside hit the floor, drew her legs up to her chest and let her head flop down onto her knees.

Diesel's wet nose nudged her cheek and she turned her head to look at him, flipping her hair out of the way with one hand. The dog lapped at her nose and Jess exhaled slowly, reaching out to stroke his soft ears.

"Well," she said grudgingly, "at least you still like me, don't you, boy?"


	12. The Green Eyed Monster

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** Nominations for the BIS cast are now closed. I'll be updating my site in the next few days with all the pictures and I'll let you know when voting is open! I'm dedicating this chapter to the maker of the best M/A-centric MV I've ever seen – "Just The Girl" – by sinfulxxtragedy. I ran across it by accident on YouTube and it rocks!

**Chapter 12: The Green-Eyed Monster**

**Sector Three, 9pm**

_Okay, this is just plain weird_.

Max sat on a barstool, watching as Zane, Alec and Rand talked and laughed over their fourth pitcher of beer and their second bottle of whisky. The scene seemed a little bit surreal from her point of view and not just because there was a long-standing tradition of mistrust between most Manticore alumni and the 09ers.

If she was honest, she'd thought Zane would flatly reject Alec's presence, much as she had when he'd first walked into her cell with his ridiculous breeding orders. Even Krit and Syl, who were slowly warming to their dead brother's twin, were still uncertain of him to some extent. Zane's ready acceptance of Alec was unexpected and surprising.

Then again, who was she to complain? After all, there were worse things to stare at for a few hours than three outrageously good-looking X5 males. Being the envy of every woman in the place almost – _almost_ – made up for her inability to drink anything except water.

"No, no, no, you've gotta get yourself a Ducati," Rand told Zane as he poured himself another glass of beer. "Mine got wasted when TC was torched but it was one sweet ride."

"Uh uh," Zane said with a shake of his head. "No way. I had a Katana back in LA –"

"Suzuki?" Alec asked and Zane nodded.

"That's the one," Zane agreed. "Best motorcycle I ever had."

"Yeah, Jessie had one of those bad boys," Alec chimed in. "We managed to salvage it but no-one's had time to fix it up. It's just sitting in a basement in Sector Seven."

"I can take a crack at it if you want," Zane offered. "I've been workin' as a mechanic for years. It'll be good as new in no time."

"I don't know, man. It's one helluva mess," Rand cautioned him with a chuckle. "I'd wait until you've seen it before making any promises."

Max took another sip of water, keenly aware of Alec's eyes following the glass as she lifted it off the table and raised it to her lips. She deliberately avoided looking at him, knowing his curiosity would eventually get the better of him and he'd ask her why she was abstaining from her beverage of choice.

"What's the matter, Maxie?" Alec asked. "You're pretty quiet."

"Not everyone runs their mouth off like you do, Alec," Max replied primly.

"What can I say? It's a gift," Alec replied smoothly, letting out a chuckle when she rolled her eyes. "Come on, Maxie, lighten up a little, will ya? Have a drink. There's plenty for everyone."

"I'm not in the mood," she told him in a tone that she hoped would close that particular discussion topic.

"Max Guevara's not in the mood for beer," Alec mused, regarding her speculatively. "Have I stepped into an alternate universe or what?"

"Very funny," Max sniped, oblivious to the speaking look Zane and Rand were exchanging.

"Okay, do you wanna tell me who put the stick up your ass?" Alec asked, putting his glass down to give her his full attention.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Max hissed, her temper flaring.

"It means that ever since I swung by Cindy's, you've been in bitch mode," Alec replied, his hazel eyes meeting her dark ones. "So either tell me what the hell your problem is or get over it."

_Right_, Max thought angrily. _Like I'm gonna tell you I'm jealous of some trashy redhead you're screwing_. "Believe it or not, Alec, not everything is about you," Max continued aloud. "Give your ego a rest."

"Well, I would but I'm the only one your ragging on," he observed. "It's kind of a give away."

"Alec, if you can't handle it, just go back to the safehouse and play doctor with your girlfriend, all right?"

Alec's brows rose slightly. "I take it you're talking about Dee?" he asked carefully, knowing that if he smiled she'd probably kill him.

_Oh, that's just fantastic_, Max groaned inwardly as she saw his hazel eyes glitter with humour. _Please tell me I'm not acting like a jealous girlfriend_. "Whatever," she replied with a shrug, averting her eyes as she gulped down a mouthful of water.

Unfortunately, she found herself looking at Zane, who was watching her with a speculative look in his eyes, his gaze sliding from her to Alec and back again. He quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly but remained silent. Even Rand had assumed an innocent expression that she knew was completely feigned.

_Ugh. Kill me now_, Max pleaded, wanting to sink into the floor. As if it wasn't bad enough that Alec was looking quite pleased by her reaction, now Zane and Rand were witnesses to her humiliation. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on the pool game happening on the other side of the room.

"So, Maxie…" Zane began to break the tension, gesturing lazily to her and Alec. "How did you two hook up?"

"Uh…" Max hesitated.

"We were breeding partners at Manticore," Alec jumped in and Zane's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"But we never actually… uh, bred," Max stammered quickly. "I kicked him across the room."

Rand, who'd never heard that part of the story, started laughing and even Zane chuckled at the thought. Max's lips twitched at the irked expression on Alec's face and she started to relax as the tables turned on him.

"It's not funny," Alec insisted, which just set Rand off again.

"No, it's hilarious," Rand corrected him through gales of laughter. "Do I want to know _where_ she kicked you?"

"Lucky for him I didn't aim that low," Max grinned. "Not that time, anyway."

"This I've gotta hear," Zane decided, leaning forward to give Max his undivided attention.

"Hey!" Alec protested. "Leave a guy some dignity, huh?"

"Dignity?" Zane appeared puzzled and turned to Rand. "Did you know he had dignity?"

"It's news to me," Rand replied with a smile. "Fire away, oh fearless leader."

"Well… there was this cage fight…"

"Max," Alec pleaded just as a lithe figure approaching the table caught her attention. "Do we _have_ to relive this?"

Max cleared her throat softly. "Incoming," she murmured and all three men glanced at her for a moment before they caught her meaning. Rand turned around first, his eyes lighting on the sexy young woman making her way over to the table. Honey-blonde hair, smoky blue eyes, legs for days… his lips curved up into an appreciative grin.

"And what can we do for you?" Rand asked, his gaze drifting over her.

"Well, you can buy me a drink," she replied smoothly, finally turning to let her cat-that-got-the-cream smile encompass the whole table as she interposed herself between Zane and Rand, blatantly ignoring Max. "I'm Nikki."

"Rand," he replied, then gestured to his companions. "This is Zane, Alec and Max."

"Max, huh?" Nikki asked dubiously. "Is that short for something?"

"No." Max folded her arms across her chest as Nikki's attention wandered from Rand to Zane and then finally to Alec. Even though the girl's gaze didn't linger any longer on Alec than it had on the other two, it was still longer than Max would have liked and the brunette choked down the urge to scratch the girl's eyes out.

"So where is everyone?" Nikki asked, turning her smoky stare on Zane.

"Everyone?" he echoed slyly, playing along.

"Oh, you know," she purred. "You didn't come here with just her."

"_Her?_" Max bristled at the implied insult but Alec's fingers caught her wrist and squeezed gently. Her dark eyes flashed at him but he shook his head ever so slightly. There was a hint of amusement in his expression that intrigued her and with an effort she curbed the impulse the verbally thrash the intruder. Even Rand gave her a conspiratorial wink. Nikki remained oblivious, her focus squarely on Zane, whose crooked smile was working its magic.

"Easy," Alec whispered. "They've got her."

Max narrowed her eyes but held her tongue, glancing back at the young woman who was giggling at Zane. The brunette wrinkled her nose in disgust, wondering how people like Nikki managed to function on a daily basis with nothing in their heads except air.

"Just one girl for the three of you?" Nikki asked, looking rather amused by the notion. "Doesn't sound like much fun to me."

"Well, maybe you should join in," Rand suggested. "We can always use another pair of hands."

"To do what exactly?" Nikki asked, lowering her lashes as she pouted prettily.

"How much do you charge?" Rand asked and Nikki's eye twitched as Rand's words registered. Max bit her lip to stop from laughing at the expression on the girl's face. Nikki looked over at Zane, who appeared equally interested in her answer. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"Well?" Zane prompted her. Nikki's smoky blue eyes snapped over to Max.

The brunette merely shrugged. "Don't look at me. I was invited."

With a final outraged glare at all the occupants of the table, Nikki stalked back towards her group of friends, who were craning their necks to try and figure out what had happened. Zane, on the other hand, raised his glass in a mock salute.

"And that is what happens to trashy blondes who pick on my sister," he declared with some satisfaction, making Max laugh in return.

"I can take care of myself," she felt obliged to point out though she was rather pleased that the three males had closed ranks against the would-be crasher in her favour.

"Aren't you the one who's always preaching unity?" Rand replied with a sly smile. Alec grinned and reached for the now-empty pitcher.

"This round's on me," he said as he got to his feet.

"Nothing for me," Max told him.

"What? Is my booze not good enough for you? I'm starting to feel insulted," Alec joked, glancing at the half-full glass of water in front of her.

"Take it however you want, Alec," Max shrugged indifferently though her pulse jumped when he moved around her and leaned against the table, so close she could see the flecks of gold in the green of his eyes.

"Here or outside?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Do you want to talk here or outside?" Alec reiterated patiently. Max peeked over at Zane and Rand, who appeared to be absorbed in their drinks. She knew they were both as aware of the steely undertone of the seemingly innocuous request as she was and sighed.

"Fine," she replied impatiently, giving Alec a withering look as she slipped off the barstool and strode towards the back door.

"Good luck," Rand muttered, knowing Alec's would hear him. In response, his friend looked back over his shoulder and nodded before disappearing like Max had seconds beforehand.

Alec found Max standing in the middle of the alley, hands on her hips, her expression as black as her hair.

"What's up?" he asked without preamble.

"How should I know? You're the one who dragged me out here."

"Not gonna fly, Max," he told her, shaking his head. "Come on, what's with the attitude?"

"Nothing."

"You don't actually expect me to buy that, do you?" Alec asked, trying to catch her gaze when she started staring down at the ground. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

Max's teeth tugged at her lower lip as she finally looked up into his face. She had no idea where to start.

_Oh, you know, things aren't so great with Logan and I was hoping you'd dump your girl. By the way, I'm pregnant._ Nope, too casual. _Alec, I think I'm in love with you and… and…_ Max scrapped that one straight away. It left her far too vulnerable. _God, I am so screwed up._

"Max." Alec frowned a little, moving closer so that she had to tip her head up to look at him. "Level with me."

Max wasn't used to keeping secrets from Alec. He either figured things out on his own or she just told him straight up. Now her secrets suddenly revolved around Alec and it just made the entire situation unbearable.

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked gently, watching the conflicting emotions play across her features.

"Depends on your definition of all right, I guess," she hedged.

"It's not seizures, is it?"

"No," Max hastened to assure him, though she could easily see why he would jump to that conclusion. "No, it's nothing like that." She averted her gaze for a moment, grimacing slightly. "Things with Logan are… they're just…"

Alec just waited patiently for her to continue, watching her struggle to find the words. He remained uncharacteristically silent, knowing that if he tried to hurry her she'd probably cut and run.

"It's not working out," she said finally, looking utterly defeated as she raked a hand through her dark hair. "I thought everything would be okay once the virus was out of the picture but…" She exhaled in a rush and bit her lip anxiously. "I don't know what I'm gonna say to him, Alec."

Alec fought down the surge of hope that rose up at her words and concentrated on keeping his expression neutral. He focused solely on the knowledge that she was telling him this as a friend.

"What do you want to say to him?" he asked carefully. He wasn't surprised when her eyes narrowed in response, as if she thought he was somehow trying to be sarcastic.

"What do you mean?" she asked uncertainly, caught off guard.

"Stop thinking about what you _should_ say to him," Alec advised her, "and start thinking about what you _want_ to say to him. You can't keep telling him what he wants to hear all the time or it's just gonna make everything worse, right?"

Max blinked up at him in astonishment as that sank in.

_Wow_, she thought. _That makes sense_.

"Are you quoting someone or did you actually come up with that yourself?" Max asked tentatively, as if she wasn't sure that his brain hadn't been hijacked by aliens or something.

"Believe it or not, Maxie, I do come up with original material from time to time," he replied with a chuckle and Max's lips twitched despite the seriousness of her problem. She folded her arms and shot him a mock glare. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just tryin' to help," he shrugged.

"Mmph," was her only reply but her lips curved upwards despite her best efforts to keep a straight face. Alec's smile widened and Max swatted him half-heartedly on the chest. "Idiot," she murmured though there was no antagonism in her tone.

The moment was broken when Max's pager went off, its shrill tone echoing in the alley. With a sigh, Max unclipped it from her belt and checked the display.

"It's Cody," she told him, her brows drawing together in concern. "911."

Without a second's hesitation, Alec pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled the medic's number. She picked up on the first ring.

"_Cody here._"

"It's Alec. What's wrong?" he asked, meeting Max's eyes. She was listening in, relying on her sensitive hearing.

"_I'm in Sector Ten_," she replied. "_You remember Lenny?_"

"Yeah, the X6 kid," Alec confirmed.

"_He's dead_," Cody said bluntly. "_He didn't check in for guard duty so we sent out a sweep_. _We found him outside the city limits_."

"Lynch mob?" Alec asked apprehensively.

"_I doubt it_," Cody said reluctantly."_Something tore him apart_."


	13. Old Friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **This one's short, so apologies. Hints of big stuff to come though!

**Chapter 13: Old Friends**

**Sector Ten, The Outskirts of Seattle**

Alec had spent most of the drive to Sector Ten swinging between trying to suppress the surge of elation he'd felt when Max had told him that things weren't working out with Logan and mentally taking inventory of any and all things capable of ripping a transgenic limb from limb.

It was a frustratingly short list full of unappealing possibilities.

Now, seeing the carnage first hand, Alec and Max's hopes that Cody might have been exaggerating were swiftly dashed. All that remained of Lenny were pieces of flesh and bone and the almost overwhelming scent of blood that permeated the night air. Whatever had attacked him hadn't been satisfied with just killing the X6. It had completely dismembered him and the sight was sickening to behold.

"Do you have any idea who attacked him?" Max asked, swallowing hard.

"It sure as hell wasn't ordinaries," Cody reluctantly admitted, "but for once I wish it was."

"What do you mean?" Alec asked.

"When I say that Lenny was torn apart, I mean that's what caused him to die, not that it was done after the fact," Cody impressed upon them. "He wasn't shot, stabbed, his neck wasn't broken... All the wounds are consistent with him being ripped into pieces while he was still alive, like he's been drawn and quartered. There's no sign that tools of any kinds were used to do this."

"So whoever did this is strong enough to take out a transgenic bare-handed," Alec surmised grimly, exchanging a speaking look with Max.

"I think so," Cody replied with a small nod. "We need to put everyone on alert."

"We'll handle it," Max assured her. "Thanks."

"What do you think?" Alec asked softly as Cody strode away.

"Strong enough to kill an X6 and walk away?" Max's mouth twisted into a grimace. "Familiars."

"Good to know we're on the same page," Alec replied grimly, "but I don't see the point. Why kill a transgenic and leave the body for us to find? It's like robbing a bank and deliberately tripping the alarm. It doesn't make any sense."

"You think they're playing with us?" Max wondered.

"I don't know," Alec replied, frowning as he tried to consider all the angles. "White and his psychos have always played it smart. Letting us know they're gunning for us again is pretty stupid."

"Yeah but we both know there's no way some average Joe and his buddies could have done this," Max persisted. "Even if they were drunk enough or stupid enough to attack one of ours in the first place, they don't have the physical strength to pull a body apart like that."

"I know," Alec conceded reluctantly, scrubbing a hand over his face. "And if by some slim chance it was a wild animal, it would have just chowed down instead of spreading bits of its dinner all over the place."

"Not to mention that Lenny could have outrun any carnivores in the area," Max chimed in. "Whatever it was got close without him knowing. With transgenic senses, that's usually pretty much impossible."

"Someone he knew?" Alec suggested carefully, the idea immediately making him edgy.

Max chewed on her lower lip for a second. "Maybe," she admitted grudgingly. "We could have another Cain in the ranks somewhere."

"If Lenny pissed someone off badly enough… or the kid might just have been a convenient target."

"So whichever way you look at it, we're in deep shit," Max summed it up and Alec nodded.

"Yeah, that pretty much covers it," he agreed, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

"This is going to get really messy, isn't it?" Max predicted glumly. Alec didn't respond but the expression on his face spoke volumes.

_Great. Things couldn't possibly get any worse tonight_, Max fumed as she turned and strode towards the loose ring of transgenics surrounding what was left of Lenny. She stopped a few paces away as the stench of blood rolled over her once again. Her stomach roiled in response and she held a hand up to her nose. She grimaced in distaste as she stilled, concentrating on keeping her dinner in her belly where it belonged.

After a few moments, mind triumphed over her stomach muscles, and she stepped inside the circle. Max hunkered down and pursed her lips, staring at the remains with sorrow in her dark eyes.

Sixteen years old. Lenny hadn't been much more than a kid. Now he was dead, a casualty of their ongoing struggle to survive. He'd only had one year of freedom. One lousy year…

He'd been cheated.

"Are you okay?"

Max looked up over her shoulder at Alec, who was gazing at her with sympathetic hazel eyes. She swallowed hard and shook her head slightly, a wave of exhaustion swamping her momentarily. She was tired of fighting.

"It's not fair," she said softly. "He survived all those years at Manticore… for this?"

Alec crouched down beside her. "We'll figure this out, Max. I promise."

Their eyes met for a long moment and Max drew in a deep breath, knowing without a doubt that Alec understood what she was feeling right then, that she didn't have to try to explain it. It was just there, unspoken and intangible but still there between them.

On impulse, Alec reached out and tucked a wayward lock of dark hair back behind her ear. She showed no outward reaction to the motion, well aware that he probably half-expected her to bat his hand away or snipe at him for touching her. Instead she just accepted it in silence, her gaze still locked with his.

They were in the middle of a murder investigation – God, they were sitting in front of Lenny's body – and all she wanted to do right then was kiss him. Disgusted with herself, Max abruptly stood up, shattering the moment.

"Can you guys handle things here?" she asked. He gave her a puzzled look and unfurled his lean length so that he was once again hovering a few inches above her.

"I guess so. Why?" he asked curiously.

"There's something I have to take care of," she hedged. "I won't be long."

Alec's calculating gaze swept over her face, as if he were trying to figure out what she was thinking, and he finally nodded.

"All right but you're not going alone," he told her.

"What?" she asked quizzically.

"Have you forgotten that little rule you put in place?" he reminded her. "No-one goes anywhere alone outside of the safehouses. Especially not now. Lenny came out here on his own and looked what happened."

Max gritted her teeth. Truthfully, she was starting to regret dreaming up that directive. Not to mention that she'd already broken it once that day with her little excursion to Cindy's.

"Fine, I'll take Dale," she acquiesced reluctantly, knowing he'd argue if she insisted on flying solo. He was as stubborn as she was and sometimes more so, depending on the situation. He'd never been afraid to stand up to her.

With that settled, Max walked straight past him and headed towards the X5 male who was about to be drafted. It wouldn't be too hard to make sure Dale kept his mouth shut about her destination. After all, he owed her for saving him from White's clutches.

If Lenny's death had driven one thing home, it was that life was short. Too short to waste time fighting for something that had slipped from her grasp a long time ago… something she no longer wanted.

She had to talk to Logan.

**Meanwhile…**

"Sir?"

Ames White smoothly turned on his heel to acknowledge the presence of Adrian Grodin. He simply waited, watching the man expectantly.

"They're leaving a trail," Grodin reported. "An X6 has been killed."

"Casualties were inevitable once they were on the outside. Have the authorities been alerted?" White asked.

"Not yet," Grodin replied. "The transgenics stumbled across the body first. It was dismembered."

White's cold eyes gleamed and his mouth curved slightly in satisfaction. "Well, at least that's one less mutant for us to worry about. Scour the city. Find them."

"Do you want us to terminate them, sir?"

"Kill the freak," White ordered grimly, "but I want Lydecker alive."


	14. Forever

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** God, I've been looking forward to writing this for over a year… ML is toast! The cast nomination pics are now up on my web page for your perusal but we are _not_ voting yet! I'll let you know when voting is open.

**Chapter 14: Forever**

**Sector Three, Sandeman's Old House**

Max stared up at the dilapidated house as clouds gathered overhead, obscuring the night sky. She lost track of how long she stood there in silence, reflecting on how much her life had changed in the space of twenty-four hours.

The previous night she'd been sneaking out of this house – her boyfriend's house – and had found herself spending the early hours of the morning with Alec. She'd discovered she was eight weeks pregnant with Alec's child, her brother had breezed back into her world and to top it all off she'd finally stopped running away from everything she felt for a certain hazel-eyed X5 male.

Not bad for a day's work.

The thought made her smile a little despite the gravity – and finality – of what she was about to do. She'd lost track of how many times she'd walked away from Logan only to find herself right back where she started. The difference was that this time she had no intention of changing her mind.

When she thought about it, she and Alec had overcome as much, if not more, than she and Logan had. First Logan had been stuck in a wheelchair and had constantly endangered himself through his work as Eyes Only. Then he'd thought she was dead for three months and then the virus had screwed things up. Those were some pretty impressive obstacles to conquer in anyone's book.

Alec, on the other hand, had been badly disadvantaged in her estimation from the moment she met him, simply because – through no fault of his own – he happened to be the clone of the brother she'd killed. Okay, so he'd helped her orchestrate an escape which had proved to be nothing more than a ploy to get to Eyes Only and deliver the virus that had been the bane of her existence for over a year. Sure, he became a cage fighter with a stupid stage name and tried to kill her and Joshua.

The list of Alec's screw-ups seemed endless but to be fair he'd been on the outside for what? A year? She'd been free for over a decade and had made just as many mistakes. It had taken time but Alec had figured things out and wormed his way under her skin in the process.

The irony of falling pregnant to the breeding partner Manticore had chosen for her wasn't lost on her either.

For a moment she wondered if Original Cindy had known something she hadn't when the X5 had first walked into Jam Pony looking for a job. He'd been 'her boy' from day one, no matter how many times she denied it. Then again, Cindy always seemed to know more about how Max was feeling than Max did. Maybe she shouldn't be all that surprised at ending up here.

Max couldn't pinpoint when she'd started preferring hazel eyes to blue or charismatic wild cards to scruffy do-gooders. It had crept up on her slowly before finally pouncing on her on the fateful night at Crash.

Now she was preparing to break a man's heart for what? The fourth time? The fifth? And then run straight back to his rival, confess everything and hope he wasn't too stunned to take her to bed right then and there. Well, that might have been wishful thinking. Max was under no illusions. She knew she was going to feel absolutely rotten after this and she couldn't even drown herself in beer afterwards. The only thing that helped was the certain knowledge that she'd feel even worse for a lot longer if she _didn't_ do it.

Maybe she could drown herself in ice cream instead. Cindy wouldn't mind… she hoped.

Logan deserved better than a one-sided relationship with a test-tube fugitive who'd cheated on him because of her freaky biology and then lied to him about _who_ she'd cheated on him with. He deserved someone who'd dote on him and marry him and give him the five kids he craved.

One child was scaring her half to death and he'd wanted five? Max cringed inwardly. She'd been extremely quiet during that conversation, concentrating on chewing the ravioli he'd cooked up to avoid answering.

_Just suck it up and get it over with, Max_, she chided herself even as a feeling of dread washed over her. The first spatter of rain fell from the heavens and she scrunched up her face as she looked up at the storm clouds. _Thanks for the encouragement_, she seethed, feeling the sudden need to wipe the smirk off Fate's ugly mug.

Max sucked in a deep breath and finally walked inside, hesitating only momentarily at the door.

"Max? Is that you?" Logan called out almost immediately and she followed his voice into the room where he'd set up his Eyes Only gear. His laptop was open and he was engrossed in the file on the screen, a pencil clenched between his teeth as he typed.

Max almost baulked. He was a good man. It wasn't his fault. He'd tried so hard, held on for so long… all for her.

"Hey, you," he mumbled around the pencil as he looked up, clearly happy to see her.

"Hey," she said lamely, her mind suddenly completely blank. She had no idea what to say to him. This wasn't the same as breaking up with Darren or brushing Eric off. She'd invested two years of her life into this relationship and now that it was about to end, her revved-up transgenic brain failed her.

Logan took the pencil out of his mouth and spun around on his chair to face her. "I was starting to worry."

"Yeah… sorry about that," she said awkwardly. "Some stuff came up."

"Anything I can help with?" he asked and Max's heart began a slow, inexorable descent into her toes.

"Not really," she denied. "An X6 was killed in Sector Ten. We're checking into it. And Zane's here."

"Your brother Zane?" Logan asked, his eyes lighting up with interest. Max nodded quickly.

"Yeah, he just showed up at Jam Pony," she continued, swallowing hard. Small talk hadn't been part of the plan. How the hell was she supposed to do this?

"You don't seem very happy about it," Logan observed, finally picking up on nervousness. "Are you all right?"

"Uh… Logan, I have to talk to you about something," she began, resisting the urge to start pacing the room. His brow furrowed and he leaned forward in his chair.

"Max, what's wrong?" he asked in concern.

"This," she blurted out. "This is wrong."

_Oh God, it wasn't supposed to come out like that_, she thought despairingly as Logan frowned in confusion.

"Max, what are you talking about?" Logan asked, her obvious tension making him anxious. Max pursed her lips and forced herself to look him in the eyes as she broke his heart.

"Logan, I… this thing with you and me…" She inhaled deeply, steadied herself and swallowed hard. "Logan, this isn't working."

She watched the play of emotions on his handsome face, the flicker of pain and denial in his blue eyes as he surged to his feet and reached for her, his hands curling around her shoulders.

"No, you don't mean that," he protested, as if he could change her mind with his persistence. "Max, whatever this is, we can figure it out. You just have to tell me what's wrong."

"But it's not just one thing," Max told him brokenly, his proximity making her stomach twist up into knots. "It's not. It's everything. Logan, I can't keep doing this. I can't keep pretending I'm normal when I'm not."

"I never asked you to be normal," Logan argued desperately, reaching up to cradle her chin in his hand. "Max, what you are doesn't matter to me."

"It matters to me," she countered firmly, grasping his wrists to pull his hands away, "and it shouldn't. I sneak out of your bed every night because I don't sleep, Logan. Did you even know that?"

Logan's hurt expression intensified. "You could have told me, Max –"

"I shouldn't have to tell you," she pointed out, her heart wrenching at the look in his eyes. "You _know_ I'm nocturnal. You _know_ I don't sleep but you still expect me to stay. You never asked, not once. I shouldn't feel guilty for being awake at two o'clock in the morning. I never used to."

"Max, I don't care about you sneaking out," he insisted though his reaction a scant moment ago belied his words. "You're right. I should have thought about that but it's no reason to end this. We can fix it."

"No, we can't fix it," Max replied hopelessly. "This isn't the kitchen faucet. We can't slap a band-aid on this and pretend everything's fine. It's not."

"Every couple has an adjustment period –"

"Logan –"

"It's perfectly normal," Logan continued as Max ground her teeth. She was starting to hate that word intensely.

Logan was safe when she didn't want safety any more. She held back when she was with him – physically, emotionally, verbally, even mentally. She was afraid of hurting him in all those respects. He couldn't keep up with her, no matter how hard he tried, and she was tired of waiting for him to catch up. Most of all, she was sick of lying to him.

"Logan, I'm pregnant," Max said in a rush as she squeezed her eyes shut, biting her lower lip miserably. Logan was absolutely stunned, his blue eyes wide with shock. His jaw dropped.

_Oh God_… She hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. It hadn't been part of her plan at all. She'd intended to tell Alec first. This whole conversation was a disaster and it was getting worse by the second.

"What did you just say?" Logan croaked. Max swallowed hard, the idea of repeating it making the bile rise in her throat.

"I said I'm pregnant," she said again, looking up at him apprehensively.

"But… Max, that's great, so why – " Logan stammered in bewilderment and Max suddenly realized her error.

"Eight weeks pregnant," she amended.

Realization dawned and Logan's face fell. "Your heat…"

"I'm sorry," Max whispered desolately as Logan turned away and walked over to the window, staring out into the rain. For a long time he didn't move and Max just watched him uncertainly, knowing instinctively that it wasn't over yet and it was going to get worse before it got better. But she was determined to see this through.

Finally, he walked straight past her and down the hall towards the kitchen.

"Logan?" Max trailed after him, watching as he pulled out a bottle of spirits and poured himself a glass. He hastily swallowed a mouthful and scowled as the liquid burned its way down his throat.

"Max…" he began hesitantly, "if you're doing this because you don't know who the father is, it's okay."

It didn't sound okay from where Max was standing but her throat closed over and she couldn't speak.

"We'll work it out," he continued, clearly struggling despite his assurances. He started clearing cooking implements from the sink even as Max shook her head in dejection.

"Logan," she said raggedly. "I know who the father is."

The cyber-journalist froze, his blue eyes flying to her face. One hand clutched the glass convulsively while the other was clamped around a spatula.

"You said you didn't know him," he replied, his tone just short of accusing and Max wanted to earth to open up and swallow her whole. Alec had warned her repeatedly that lying to Logan about what happened was a bad idea but she hadn't listened. This train wreck of a relationship was the result.

"I lied," she admitted quietly and watched him absorb that. She saw the wounded look in his blue eyes and he promptly swallowed another mouthful of liquor. "You knew that there were other X5s at the bar," she said hesitantly. "They were fighting over me and… it wasn't his fault."

"Who's. Fault?" Logan said slowly, his eyes burning right through her as anger began to override pain.

Max opened her mouth but no sound came out. Logan interpreted the lengthening silence.

"It's Alec's," he realized, sounding strangled. He slammed the spatula down on the counter and Max flinched. "What, did he run in the other direction when he realized there might be some responsibility involved?" Logan spat bitterly.

"He doesn't know!" Max shot back, trapped between anger and tears.

She didn't want Alec dragged into the mess between her and Logan. She'd used him as a buffer before and he'd been less than impressed when he found out she'd placed him squarely in the middle of her relationship woes. Logan had every right to be angry and upset but she didn't want him to take it out on Alec.

With an effort, Max reined in her temper and her hormones and her emotions, and tried to focus explaining. "Logan… he has cat DNA too. He couldn't help what happened," she said, almost pleading with him to understand. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have gone to Crash."

"So now you're defending him?" Logan demanded harshly. "God, Max… he took advantage of you and you lied to me about it!"

"It wasn't like that!" Max snapped, her patience unravelling quickly. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I can't take it back!" With that, Max turned on her heel and stalked towards the door.

"Max, wait! Please!" Logan called after her. He ran to catch up with her and grabbed her arm, halting her just as her fingers closed around the handle. "Max, don't go."

She glared up at him, her temper flaring. "Let go of me."

"Max, we'll work it out," he beseeched her, stroking her cheek. "I _know_ we can work this out."

"No, Logan, we can't," Max said with tears in her eyes as she stepped back, pulling her arm out of his grasp. "I love you but I… I'm not _in_ love with you any more. I can't keep playing house and pretending everything's okay when it's not. I can't breathe with you."

Logan looked like she'd slapped him. She wished she could be what he needed… but she was what she was and she loved who she loved. Who knew where she'd be in another two years time. Would she be having a similar heart-wrenching tête-à-tête with Alec or would she be happy? Hell, she could be dead by then so she'd rather take the chance and find out.

"It's over," she said softly, shaking her head at him with regret written across her beautiful features. "I'm sorry."

Logan couldn't say a word as she darted out of the door and into the pouring rain, disappearing into the darkness like a wraith. He just stood there, completely numb, staring out at the storm as if she'd magically rematerialize and tell him it had all been a horrific prank. But she never appeared and after what seemed like an eternity Logan closed the door and trudged back to the kitchen. He drained the glass and poured himself another drink, sinking down onto a chair to wallow in his misery.

Max was gone.

Forever.


	15. The Ex Factor

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **And it all goes to hell…What? You didn't think I was going to make this easy, did you? Shame on you! lol. Also, _VOTING FOR THE CAST IS NOW OPEN!_ We're voting via review, mainly because: a) reviews are public and anyone can check the results and b) I'm a techno-dunce. I encourage all the readers to participate and if you do, please vote for _all_ of the characters so we get an accurate result.

**Chapter 15: The Ex Factor**

**Sector Five, Original Cindy's Apartment**

"So how'd he take it?" Cindy asked as a rain-soaked Max sank down onto the couch and pressed her face into one of the cushions, groaning in misery. "That bad, huh?"

After several seconds of silence, Max peeked up at her best friend and let her breath out in a whoosh, her expression glum. "It was a total disaster," she confessed unhappily, oblivious to the fact that she was dripping water all over the place. "I just blurted it all out. The whole thing – the baby, Alec…"

Cindy's eyes widened. "Damn…" She quickly came to sit down beside the X5 female. "Are you aiight, boo?"

"No," Max moaned, leaning back with the cushion hugged to her chest. "God, he was just looking at me like I wasn't speaking English, like I was crazy or something. He just kept telling me we'd be okay…"

"Is this before or after you told him he wasn't your baby's daddy?" Cindy asked curiously.

"Both," Max replied, dragging a hand through her wet tangle of dark hair. "God, this is such an unbelievable mess… I'm such a freak."

"You're not a freak, sugah," Cindy told her patiently. "Now you listen to Original Cindy. The man had to know the truth sooner or later or it woulda made you crazy. Just 'cause it didn't go down the way you wanted don't make it wrong."

"I did the right thing, didn't I?" Max asked nervously, looking to Cindy for reassurance. "Breaking up with Logan was the smart thing, wasn't it?"

Cindy had been waiting for that since the moment the girl arrived. She'd known that sooner or later Max would second-guess her decision and Cindy was quite prepared to kick her transgenic backside if necessary.

"Breathe, boo," Cindy replied calmly. "You did the right thing, aiight? Now you gotta calm down before that baby gets as upset as its momma."

"It's a tadpole," Max pointed out irritably.

"Even tadpoles got feelings, boo," Cindy replied sagely, hoping to coax a smile out of her friend. Instead, Max sniffled and stubbornly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, a childish motion that immediately made Cindy feel terribly sorry for her. She knew how hard Max had been holding onto Logan and the reality of the situation was still sinking in. She was surprised that the girl hadn't broken down before now.

"For all I know you could be right," Max choked out. "What if this baby's as much of a freak as I am?"

"Whoa, sugah, you stop right there before that kinda thinkin' runs away wit' you," Cindy cautioned her kindly. "That kid ain't gonna be anything less than fabulous. It's in the genes."

"Yeah, so are seizures," Max grumbled, biting her lower lip, "and this baby's got those on both sides of the family."

"Have you told Alec yet?" Cindy asked carefully, watching the play of emotions across Max's face. The younger woman shook her head silently, her gaze fixed on the floor. "Max, you have got to tell the man what's going on."

"I know," Max said quickly, meeting Cindy's eyes. "I will. I just have to figure out how."

"Why not just tell him straight out?"

Max hesitated and pursed her lips, uncertainty shadowing her doe brown eyes.

"Max?"

"What if he doesn't want anything to do with this?" Max said in a nervous rush. "What if Logan's right? What if I tell him and he runs?"

"It's been a while since your boy did any runnin', boo," Cindy reminded her, wanting to throttle Logan for putting the idea in Max's head. "He's pretty good at steppin' up these days." When Max still seemed reticent, Cindy gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Talk to me, sugah."

"He's kinda with somebody," Max reluctantly admitted. "You remember Dee?"

"The redhead?" Cindy asked, frowning in confusion. "Are you sure?"

"He hasn't denied it," Max said flatly, as if that was the final nail in the coffin.

"Uh uh," Cindy denied with a shake of her head that made her curls bounce. "Red ain't getting' him. That boy is as strung out over you as you are over him. You got Original Cindy's word on that."

"But –"

"No buts, girl," Cindy said firmly. "Do you love hot boy or not?"

Max's smile came slowly but it lit up her whole face and Cindy couldn't stop herself from grinning in return.

"So whatcha waitin' for, boo?" Cindy encouraged her. "Take a chance. Go get your man."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Alec finally got back to the safehouse after scouring the scene of Lenny's demise with the muscles in his shoulders twisted up into aching knots of tension. He found an empty chair in the kitchen and sank back into it, exhaling slowly as he closed his eyes and slowly emptied his mind of all the clutter it had accumulated during the day. A few minutes of blissful inactivity – that was all he asked.

Sadly, it wasn't to be. He heard footsteps approaching the kitchen and stifled a groan. He cracked open one eye to find Rand standing in the doorway, regarding him thoughtfully.

"Get some sleep," Rand told him. "I'll take tonight's shift."

"Thanks," Alec said gratefully without offering even token resistance. "Any sign of Max?"

"None," Rand said with a shake of his head. "Haven't seen her since she lit outta Sector Ten earlier. Knowing her, she probably won't turn up till tomorrow."

"Yeah, if I didn't like being able to sleep in I might be jealous of that whole nocturnal thing," Alec replied with a slight smile. "Where's Zane?"

"Krit and Syl are still sleeping so he's introducing himself around," Rand told him with a chuckle. "I've never seen anyone warm up to the transhumans that fast. They don't know whether to take him seriously or not. By the way, Logan's waiting for you down the hall."

"Logan's waiting for me?" That didn't fit Alec's world view at all.

"I don't know what he wants. He seems pretty drunk."

"Logan's drunk?" Alec repeated sceptically, trying to picture that with no success. The hacker seemed too uptight to let himself get intoxicated.

"I call it as I see it," Rand told him with a shrug. "Guy's acting all kinds of weird."

With a soft groan, Alec made a show of getting out of his chair. "Guess I might as well get it over with. See you tomorrow, pal."

It didn't take long to locate the room where Logan was waiting. Transgenics and transhumans alike were shooting disgusted looks at the closed door. Wondering what the hell the hacker could possibly want, Alec strode into the room and looked around.

"Logan?"

Only Alec's heightened senses alerted him to the danger as Logan stepped out from behind the door and wildly swung a wooden chair at him, missing him by a mile. The chair crashed onto the floor as Alec ducked out of its path.

"_What the hell are you doing?_" Alec snapped angrily, staring at the human in utter disbelief. Had the man actually just been stupid enough to attack an X5?

"Bastard!"

Alec caught Logan's fist before the human's punch could connect and dealt him a hard open-handed blow to the chest that sent the man reeling against the wall. Winded, Logan doubled over while Alec tried to figure out what the ordinary thought he was trying to prove.

"Logan, if you move, I'll knock you out next time," Alec warned him as Rand darted through the door, drawn by the commotion.

"What's the fuck's going on in here?" Rand asked, taking in the scene before him. He sent Alec a quizzical glance as Zane appeared behind him. "Don't tell me Logan did what I think he did…? Nobody gets _that_ drunk."

"Logan?" Zane frowned slightly at the inebriated ordinary that was still bent over and wheezing from the blow he'd taken to the ribs. "This is Max's boyfriend?" he asked, exchanging a speaking look with Rand.

"Apparently," Rand replied blandly.

"Okay, does anyone know what the hell this is about?" Alec demanded impatiently.

"You…" gasp… "bastard…" gasp.

"Yeah, you said that part already," Alec snapped. "Anything else?"

"Must be… great to… be like you," Logan continued, trying hard to yell at his rival as he struggled for breath. "Do whatever… hell you want… _whoever_ you want… doesn't matter… she's already taken… just take… advantage of her… ruin everything…"

_Uh oh_. _Why do I get the feeling he knows about Max's heat?_

"Go home and sleep it off, Logan," Alec advised him, scrubbing a hand over his face. He could feel a headache coming on. "We'll talk about this once you've sobered up."

_Oh and won't that be a pleasant conversation?_ his subconscious mocked him.

"Should I even bother asking who he's talking about?" Zane asked, fixing Alec with an all-too-discerning look.

"Probably not," Alec said, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"What the hell's going on?" Syl asked, still rumpled from sleep as she appeared behind Zane with Krit barely a step behind her. The noise had woken them. She peered down at the scruffy human whose breathing was finally beginning to ease. "Logan? Are you all right?"

"He's fine," Rand said in a tone that clearly warned against arguing.

"He doesn't look fine," Krit replied, his tone bordering on accusing.

"He… hit me!" Logan hiccupped in outrage, glaring at Alec.

"Hey, he started it," Alec defended himself, knowing he sounded six years old. As if it wasn't bad enough that Max would have his ass for defending himself against a drunk ordinary, that ordinary just _had_ to be Logan. And of course no disaster is complete without witnesses.

For a moment, Alec wondered if it would really be wrong of him to punch Logan's lights out in front of a fellow CO and Max's entire 09er family. As much as he hated to admit it, the answer was a resounding yes.

Meanwhile, Max and Dale pulled up outside of the safehouse. Dale had been her faithful shadow despite the pouring rain, tagging along as she went to Sector Five to see Cindy. She'd kept her mouth shut only because she knew it was her own fault she was stuck with him. She quickly wheeled her motorcycle inside only to find herself the recipient of several strange looks. When no immediate explanation was forthcoming, she glared at them.

"What?" she asked peevishly, looking around. The transhumans and transgenics quickly busied themselves with other tasks. That was when she caught it – the sound of voices. Logan's… and Alec's.

_Oh God_.

Max darted down the hall until she reached the source, leaving wet footprints in her wake as she reached the door and pushed her way through her crowd of siblings.

"Logan?"

The ordinary turned rather unsteadily at the sound of Max's voice behind him and her heart plummeted. Clearly the glass of spirits he'd had while she was at his house hadn't been his last. Alec's expression was slightly pinched but otherwise unreadable. Okay, no clues there.

"Logan, I think I should get you home," Max told him as calmly as she could while dread settled into the pit of her stomach. She just wanted to get Logan as far away from Alec as she possibly could right that second.

Logan let out a bark of bitter laughter and coughed slightly, clutching his ribs. "Home? Why? You won't be there."

"Logan." She couldn't keep a hint of anger out of her voice as she grabbed hold of his arm. "Not now."

"Okay, so that's settled," Alec declared a little too eagerly, breaking the tension that filled the room.

"Hey!" Logan snapped angrily when Alec made a beeline for the door, wavering slightly as he pulled away from Max. "Yeah, that's right, Alec. Walk away. It's what you do, isn't it?"

"Logan, please…" Max urged him with increasing desperation.

"Sleep around, leave and don't take any responsibility," Logan sneered drunkenly. "Just knock them up and move on to the next girl. Leave me to pick up the pieces."

"_Logan!_" Max cried.

Alec stopped dead in his tracks as a hush fell over the room.

_No. No way… I couldn't have heard that right. Could I? I mean, Max would have told me, wouldn't she? She'd have to tell me, right? Oh God…_

Slowly, Alec turned to face Max, unable to hear anything except the sudden roaring in his ears as he digested what Logan had just said. He felt like he'd been kicked in the gut.

"What…?" he echoed when he finally found his voice, horribly aware that it was shaking as he spoke.

"God, somebody sober him up," Rand snapped to the surrounding transgenics as he thrust Logan in their direction. Krit deftly caught Logan by the scruff of the neck and dragged the protesting human out of the room, all sympathy for the man evaporating in record time.

Alec was just staring at Max, speechless.

"Alec…"

Suddenly everything made sense – absolute, horrifying, crystal clear sense. Her refusal to drink, her bitchier-than-usual attitude… even the change in her scent. Suppressing the urge to put his fist through the wall, Alec turned and headed towards the exit. Max stood frozen, watching him go, until Syl shook her out of her stupor.

"Go after him!" her sister hissed in her ear, giving her a push towards the door.

As he watched his sister – his _pregnant_ little sister – chase after Alec, Zane turned to Rand and fixed the CO with a questioning look.

"You wanna tell me what the hell I'm missing here?"

Meanwhile, Max trailed after Alec as he stalked down the street in a rage. He didn't care that it was pouring rain – all he cared about right then was getting as far away from Max as he could before he completely lost it and said or did something he'd regret.

"Alec, let me explain!" she called out, shouting to be heard over the storm.

"Explain what? That you could tell Logan but not me?" Alec demanded incredulously. "How long have you known? Obviously long enough for Logan to get falling down drunk!"

"I was going to tell you –"

"When?" he snapped, rounding on her. "When Logan started asking why the kid didn't have blue eyes?" Then something else occurred to him. Something Cindy had said…

_I don't think that girl can handle any more o' your surprises today_, _hot boy_.

"Cindy knows too, doesn't she?" he asked accusingly.

"She went with me to see Doc Woods," Max defended herself, slicking her hair back away from her face as water ran down her skin in rivulets. "Alec, I'm sorry," she told him as he turned his back on her, shaking his head as he started walking away from her again. "Will you at least listen to me?"

"Oh, so _now_ you wanna talk?" he replied sarcastically without slowing down. "Sure. Fire away, Max."

"I broke up with Logan."

"Yeah, I've heard that before."

"Fine, you wanna be a stubborn ass? That's your business!" Max shot back, taking the opportunity to storm back towards the safehouse.

"_I'm_ being a stubborn ass?" Alec asked incredulously, bringing Max up short. "Miss Max-And-Logan-Forever-Tattooed-On-Your-Forehead? Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Don't turn this around on me –"

"Shut up!" Alec snarled, startling Max into silence. "You find out you're pregnant with my child, you tell everyone _except_ me and then you stand there and act self-righteous when someone else tells me the truth? I don't care if he was too fucking drunk to give a shit. _You should have told me, Max!_"

"I didn't mean to tell Logan," she stammered lamely in the face of his fury. "It… it just came out."

"It just came out?" Alec echoed in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? It's not a belch, Max. It's a baby. _Our. Baby_. Christ…" He turned away, growling in frustration. Damn it, why wasn't there a Familiar around when you wanted to kick the shit out of something?

"I didn't mean for it to go down like this." It was the best she had to offer with everything crashing down around her. "I came here to tell you about it. I had no idea Logan was going to do anything like this."

"Logan said he thought I wouldn't take responsibility for this," Alec said, his voice tightly controlled. "Is that what you think?"

"I hoped you would," she admitted, chewing her lower lip hard enough that she thought she might draw blood.

"So you weren't sure," he surmised, easily slipping into the mask of indifference he'd perfected over the years so that she wouldn't see how much that lack of faith wounded him. "Great. Feeling the love here, Maxie."

"I dumped Logan for _you_!" Max snapped without thinking. "Doesn't that count for anything?"

_Holy shit, did I just say that out loud?_

"When did you come to that decision, Max? Before or after you found out the baby was mine?"

Max's furious expression faded slightly as she realized what he was getting at. He thought the baby was the only reason she wanted him. The sick feeling in Max's stomach intensified.

"After," she said softly, knowing even as she said it that she'd just damned herself in his eyes. Despite the downpour, Alec heard her and she could see the flicker of hurt in his expression.

"Great. So I'm your last resort," he said flatly, his eyes revealing nothing as he shut down on her completely. "Good to know."

That did it. Max's temper reached its limit. She'd screwed up by not telling him straight away. She knew that, she admitted that but she'd be damned if she was going to beg him to forgive her for this whole fiasco. She'd already given up Logan; she wasn't about to sacrifice her pride as well.

"You smug bastard," she bit out angrily. "Fine. Go back to Dee. Have a nice life."

"I was never with Dee, Max!" he exploded, exasperated beyond measure. "She wanted to make Jag jealous. I played along. End of story!"

"Oh."_ Shoot me now. I beg you._ _Put me out of my misery before I humiliate myself any more than I already have_, Max thought, wincing inwardly. By that time, Alec was raking a hand through his soaking hair, looking anywhere but at her. They were both saturated, their clothes plastered to their skin and the storm showed no signs of letting up any time soon.

For once in his life, Alec had run out of things to say. All he could do was stare down at the bitumen beneath his feet, trying to get his head around the situation. Just that morning he'd been telling Jett that he was a dedicated uncle, not father material. This had to be the most messed up situation he'd ever found himself in. And considering how he'd spent the first twenty years of his life, that was saying something.

Finally he got it together enough to look up at her again and cleared his throat. "So, uh… is everything okay so far?" He sent a meaningful glance at her stomach, deliberately steering into safer conversational waters.

"Yeah," she replied flatly. "It's all good."

"Good."

By the time they finally walked back to the safehouse, both Max and Alec were strangely quiet.


	16. Sleeping Dogs

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Well, Jess is back with a vengeance, so I strongly suggest ducking for cover. Voting is still going so if you haven't put in your two cents worth yet, now is the time!

**Chapter 16: Sleeping Dogs**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Alec stood next to the window in one of the spare rooms, staring out into the storm.

What had happened downstairs and later out in the street seemed like a bad dream that just refused to let him go. He'd always prided himself on being in control. No matter how bad things got, he could stay calm and joke and tell people what they wanted to hear. He didn't fly into a rage and shout at the mother of his child until his lungs burned. That just wasn't Alec McDowell's way… or so he'd thought until about an hour ago.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_… he chastised himself, gritting his teeth. If he'd stopped to think for just two lousy seconds, he was certain everything would have gone down differently. Now Max wasn't talking to him, Logan was nursing two fractured ribs and every transgenic in the building knew that their fearless leader had a bun in the oven.

Hypersensitive hearing was a bitch sometimes.

All in all, it was one hell of a crappy night and Alec wasn't in any hurry to talk to anyone for the rest of it. He chose instead to reflect on all the calm and rational responses he'd thrown aside in favour of having a verbal free-for-all in the middle of the street.

_Mature, Alec. Real mature_.

He slammed the side of his fist against the window frame and meandered away from the wall, pacing the room in frustration. Max's siblings had spirited her away the moment she walked back into the safehouse and based on the looks Krit and Syl had shot in his direction he'd figured that following her would have been hazardous to his health.

In contrast, Zane had clapped him on the shoulder and shrugged. "Sorry, pal. You're on your own for a while," he'd said before strolling after his brother and sisters. Alec had taken that as tacit approval on Zane's part, which had made him feel a little bit better. It seemed that Rand had filled in the blanks while he and Max were arguing.

The sound of the door opening caught his attention and he turned to find Jess standing in the doorway.

Alec blinked in surprise. Hadn't this girl spent the last month and a half avoiding him like the plague?

Jess' eyes slid over him and finally came to rest on his clearly baffled expression. She seemed equally perplexed as she closed the door behind her and propped her hands on her hips, narrowing her blue-green eyes at him.

"O…kay… you _seem_ to be in one piece," she observed warily.

"What?" Alec asked in confusion. He had no idea what she was talking about. "What are you doing here?"

"Rand called," she informed him crisply. "He said there was trouble and that you weren't in such good shape."

"He said that, huh?" Alec muttered blandly, wondering if he should hit Rand or thank him for his interference.

"Well, it wasn't so much what he said as what he didn't say and I kinda got the feeling that maybe you'd gotten yourself shot or stabbed or something so I thought I should haul ass over here…" Alec tried to stifle a smile at his sister's rambling. He could see the wheels turning in her head as she realized what was really going on. "…And he completely played on the overprotective big sister thing to get me over here, didn't he?" she finished lamely.

"Yeah," Alec agreed with a chuckle. "He did."

"Great," she said ruefully, nodding. "Your idea or his?"

"Hey, I didn't know anything about it until you walked in the door thirty seconds ago," Alec denied quickly. "Kill him, not me."

"Maybe later," Jess replied as she sidled over to him and hooked her thumbs into the pockets of her jeans. "All right, so you're clearly not in mortal danger but Rand knows better than to play me without a reason. You wanna tell me what's got you spun?"

"I'm fine," he said stubbornly.

"Liar."

"Look who's talking."

"One issue at a time, baby brother," she told him as she leaned against the window frame. "I can tell something's wrong, so just spill."

"Maybe you should take your own advice," Alec shot back, more harshly than he intended. He _hated_ arguing with her. "I don't like being lied to, Jessie."

She met his stare steadily, her blue-green eyes momentarily clouding with a hint of regret. Alec just gazed at her, seeing beyond the façade she showed the rest of the world. Ever since Crash, she'd been distant and edgy but right then she just looked as tired as he felt. He really missed his crazy, frustrating, totally irreverent sister at times like this. She had a way of seeing things from an alternate angle.

"Alec, do you really want to fight with me over this right now?" she asked, though it didn't escape his notice that she hadn't denied that part about lying through her teeth. "Well?"

"No," he admitted grudgingly.

"All right, so stop stalling and tell me what's up," she encouraged him, giving him her full attention.

"Max is pregnant."

Jess' blue-green eyes widened and her mouth curved into a smile. "Are you serious?" Alec almost smiled back. Her smiles had always been infectious and he hadn't seen her genuinely excited about anything in far too long.

"As a heart attack," he replied grimly and Jess studied his angry expression with open curiosity.

"It _is_ yours, right? Cause you don't seem all that happy about this," she mused aloud, then snorted. "I don't believe for a second that Logan got the job done."

"It's mine," he replied with a bitter smile. "That's not the problem."

"I need more information," she prompted him patiently.

"All right…" Alec said and he related the whole story to her, leaving absolutely nothing out. By the time he was done, Jess looked rather bemused, which wasn't the reaction he'd expected at all. "What's so funny?"

"Al, I really don't understand the problem," Jess informed him then rushed on before Alec could interrupt. "No, I get that you're pissed off about Logan spilling the baby beans. I'm not gonna call a foul on that one but just hear me out. The girl you're crazy in love with tells you that she dumped her self-righteous ass of a boyfriend after finding out that she's pregnant with your baby and your solution is what? To yell at her? Wasn't this the whole point of slaving over that cure?"

Alec gave her a withering look. "She only dumped Logan because the baby's mine, not his. That wasn't exactly the result I was going for, Jess."

"You're being an idiot," Jess stated calmly, giving her brother a somewhat disgusted look. "Do you really think anything less than total, abject misery would make that girl dump Logan? Please. Use that huge IQ of yours for two seconds, I beg you, and look at the bigger picture here."

"Excuse me?" Alec asked sharply, staring at her in disbelief.

"Alec," she said slowly, enunciating each word carefully. "You're going to be a father. Pull your head out of your ass before Max starts thinking you really are going to run a mile, okay?"

Alec was dumbfounded. Jess had never once spoken to him like this, not in twenty years. The blonde just crossed her arms and raised a challenging eyebrow. When Alec remained speechless, Jess made a face and huffed.

"See, this is what happens when I'm not around. That's the last time I leave you unsupervised," she decided briskly, waving him off. "Now go and talk to Max."

"Unsupervised…?" Alec echoed in surprise. She'd been avoiding him for weeks and now she was acting like she'd left the classroom for too long and he'd finger-painted on the walls.

"Alec, listen to me," Jess told him sternly. "At least look at this from a strategic point of view. Get it through Max's head you want in on the whole parenting thing – once you've done that, take all the time you need to figure out the rest. Just make sure Logan doesn't have the opportunity to play the whole 'this-child-needs-a-father' card and guilt Max into doing something stupid."

"Max wouldn't –"

"You wanna risk it?" Jess asked challengingly and pointed at the door, resorting to a threat she knew from experience would get results. "Now either you go down there and talk to her _or I will_."

"Okay, okay," Alec said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "You win."

"Damn right. Now get moving," she said crisply. "Beat it."

Still frowning at Jess' completely uncharacteristic set-down, Alec disappeared out of the door while Jess watched him and shook her head. She'd turned her back for what? A month?

"Men…"

**Max's Office…**

Max sat behind her desk, her head propped on one of her hands as she fiddled with a pencil, twirling it idly across the flat surface. Conflicting emotions as chaotic as the storm outside were making Hell seem like a nice little vacation spot. She really just wanted to disappear for a while and try to sort through everything.

Having her three siblings trying their level best to make her feel better hadn't been the roaring success Syl had clearly been hoping for. Manticoreans weren't exactly known for their delicate handling of emotional situations. Syl had jumped straight to vilifying and grousing over the stupidity of both Logan and Alec while Krit had done his best to remain neutral. Max really couldn't blame him. If she'd been shacked up with the blonde spitfire, she'd have taken the safer route and kept her mouth shut too.

The only one who seemed calm and collected was Zane. He'd simply sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders before whispering 'Congratulations' in her ear. Apart from Cindy, he was the only one who'd shown any sign of being happy for her. She'd given him a watery smile in return, choking back the urge to just break down and cry on her brother's shoulder. Zane, ever the unruffled observer, had seemed to sense how close she was to tears and had given her shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"It'll be okay, baby sister," he'd promised her softly. Those five little words were the only thing standing between her and a full-blown core meltdown for about an hour. Even now, after finally convincing her siblings to give her some peace and quiet, she was still teetering on the brink.

_God, I wish Cindy was here_.

Max hadn't expected an overwhelming outpouring of joy from Alec but she'd hoped that he might at least be a little bit supportive. 'Hoped' being the operative word. She couldn't believe Logan had let Alec find out about the baby like that. She'd never thought of him as being petty until then. For once in her life, she'd taken a leap of faith and it had blown up in her face. She didn't know why she hadn't expected it to happen. It was yet another example of how much her life sucked.

_I really should know better by now_.

Okay, she'd screwed up. Badly. She'd had how many chances to tell Alec? Two? Three? And she'd hesitated each and every time. Add to that the fact that she'd stupidly let the secret of her pregnancy slip during her disastrous attempt at breaking up with Logan and the whole situation had pretty much had a 'red alert' sign emblazoned across it in massive lettering. Considering how things had turned out, even _Normal_ would have been a better choice of confidant.

At least he would have congratulated Alec and stroked the X5's ego for a while. Maybe that would have softened the blow. Instead, her ex had thrown it in his face and tried to take his head off with a chair.

Nope. Definitely not ideal.

She was so lost in her misery that she didn't even notice the figure darkening her doorway.

"Max?"

Max jumped, startled and looked up only to be surprised at what she found. Alec was standing in the doorway, looking a little unsure of whether he was welcome or not. Her defences slammed into place in a heartbeat.

"Do you mind if I come in?" he asked tentatively, watching her carefully for any sign that she might be after certain parts of his anatomy on a plate. The request caught Max by surprise. Alec never asked permission. He usually just waltzed in like he owned the place.

"It's a free world," she said with a shrug, deliberately focusing on the latest reports from the other safehouses so that she didn't have to look up at him. Nevertheless, she was achingly aware of him striding towards her, moving cat-quietly across the room.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Max's head snapped up, wondering if she'd heard him correctly. His hazel eyes were still guarded but there was a hint of… something… in his expression that told her he was in earnest.

"Whatever," she replied as casually as she could. For several seconds he just gazed down at her in silence, studying the tense set of her shoulders and the hard edge to her liquid brown eyes.

"I'm serious, Max," he told her sincerely. "Don't get me wrong. I'm still not all that jazzed about _how_ I found out…"

"Don't remind me," Max grumbled irritably, pushing the paperwork aside. It wasn't like she could concentrate on anything anyway.

Alec fell silent. This entire conversation was so far outside of his expertise it was almost laughable. If Jess had given him a choice, he might have lain low and given Max's temper a chance to cool before he'd approached her in any way, shape or form. Why was it that he could shoot the breeze in seventeen languages yet in this scenario – where he only needed to speak plain English – he was completely out of his depth?

"So, uh…" he began hesitantly, rubbing the back of his beck as he searched for the right words. "Are you all right?"

_Oh, wonderful. Master stroke there, genius…_ he thought in frustration as Max just gave a him a look that clearly said 'You've gotta be kidding.' She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, glaring up at him.

"Okay, stupid question," he conceded, clearing his throat uneasily as Max's gaze continued to burn a hole through his forehead. _This is officially the worst attempt at a conversation Max and I have ever had_, he groused to himself_. Even running into her in Sector Seven after her heat wasn't this awkward_.

"What do you want, Alec?" she asked, deciding to get to the point while she still had enough strength of will to keep up her appearance of cold indifference. She absolutely refused to fall apart in front of him. Not after that humiliating display outside in the rain.

Green-gold eyes met dark brown and held.

"This is my child too," he said firmly. Those words, at least, rolled easily off his tongue. "I want to help."

Max didn't respond. Her expression was strangely unreadable. Alec got the feeling that she was trying to measure his sincerity and for the second time that night, his instincts raged against the idea that she might not believe him on that score. This time, however, he kept his temper under tight control. He couldn't afford to alienate Max any more than he already had.

Not that that was entirely _his_ fault – Max hadn't told him the truth when she'd had the chance and that still stung – but Jess had been right. If he did nothing else that night, he hadto straighten out this part of the equation. Even if Max pulled a one-eighty and ran screaming back to Logan so fast she left the bitumen smoking in her wake, he was dead certain about one thing – this was _his_ son or daughter and he'd sooner burn in Hell than watch that self-righteous ass of a do-gooder play daddy to _his_ kid.

That was not negotiable under any circumstances as far as Alec was concerned.

Max watched him from behind veiled eyes, her throat closing so that she couldn't have spoken even if she'd wanted to. She focused on keeping her expression neutral, praying that he couldn't see her stomach doing somersaults in sheer relief. She saw fierce determination in his green-gold eyes and she wondered briefly if he had any idea how much of a burden those four little words had lifted off her shoulders.

_He wants to help_.

She wouldn't be doing this alone. He wasn't going to wash his hands of the whole affair and swagger out of her life. He was taking responsibility… something she never would have expected of X5-494 when she first met him.

"Okay," she finally replied, not trusting herself to speak further.

Alec wondered if that was it. Where was the explosion, the shouting and smack up the side of the head that he'd half-expected when he'd first walked in? Nothing was forthcoming.

"Okay," he agreed with a small nod.

It may not have been what Max had been hoping for a few hours earlier but at least it was something.

**Much, Much Later…**

Logan Cale came back to the waking world slowly, his head pounding as if someone had taken to it with a sledgehammer. His stomach roiled ominously and he swallowed hard, his mouth feeling like it was stuffed full of cotton wool. One eye creaked open slightly and immediately snapped shut again. He didn't move. He didn't dare.

Jess Devereaux was sitting about two feet away, looking perfectly composed with one hand draped over the back of her chair while the other toyed idly with a butterfly knife.

"I know you're awake," he heard her say. "I can tell by your breathing."

Grimacing, Logan reluctantly opened his eyes and blinked away the grit to find Jess watching him, one leg crossed over the other as her icy blue-green eyes bored into his skull. Only then did he realize that he wasn't safely at home in his own bed. He was in a ramshackle room, lying on the floor with only a bedroll between him and the stained carpet.

"Where am I…?" he murmured in confusion.

"Safehouse eight," Jess informed him as she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward on the chair to peer down at him. Logan frowned, trying to sift through the fuzzy memories of the previous night. It all came back in a horrifying, sickening rush and Logan felt his stomach lurch.

"Vomit and I'll make you lick it up," Jess warned and Logan gulped down the nausea. He tried to sit up and let out a groan of pain as his ribs protested painfully. He looked down and sure enough, his chest was wrapped up in bandages. "Yeah, two broken ribs," Jess said with mock sympathy. "That's a bitch, huh?"

"What do you want?" Logan asked in irritation. He was hung over and he was in no mood for putting up with Jess' theatrics. He needed to find Max. _Now_. He had to fix this whole mess before it was too late. He struggled to sit up only to be thwarted when Jess' boot came down on his throat, pinning him to the floor. He opened his mouth to shout for help but only a wheeze came out as she pressed down with her heel.

"If you make a sound, I'll break the rest of your ribs one by one," she threatened. There was no inflection in her voice at all. She sounded like she was discussing the weather.

Left with no choice, Logan nodded and Jess sat back down while he coughed and rubbed at his throat.

"I think it's time you and I had another little talk," Jess decided as Logan pulled himself up into a sitting position with his back against the wall. "You know, since our last one seems to have conveniently slipped your mind."

Logan stared at her blankly. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm disappointed in you, Logan," Jess sighed. "I thought we had an understanding. Okay, I admit that I've been a little slack in watching Alec's back but that's officially over." Her expression darkened. "I'm back on the clock and I have this tiny little issue with you attacking my brother."

"I'm not afraid of you," Logan asserted but Jess just gave him a crocodile smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I can fix that," she replied with disconcerting confidence. "See, Alec might not be willing to hurt you because Max still has a soft spot for you – nostalgia, you know? – but I have no problem whatsoever with ripping your spine out through your mouth."

What little colour remained in Logan's face drained away in a heartbeat as he realized that she was serious.

"Now, considering how drunk you were, I'm willing to let it go just this once," Jess told him magnanimously, leaning back in her chair as she flipped the butterfly knife around expertly. "But if you ever come at my brother again, whether you're drunk, sober or anything in between, I'm not gonna be so nice about it." She locked eyes with him. "Are we clear?"

Logan nodded mutely, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could say that would improve his circumstances. This was the girl who'd abducted him and stuck a fake anti-personnel mine in his lap, leaving him to sweat for hours on end while transgenics scoured the city hunting for her. He honestly wouldn't put anything past her.

"Good," Jess replied cheerily, apparently satisfied. "Have a nice day."

With that, the blonde strode out of the door as if she didn't have a care in the world. All Logan could do was stare at her retreating back with the sinking feeling that his behaviour the previous night had done a lot more damage than he thought.

Jess was about to jog back up the stairs when she caught sight of Rand and immediately changed direction, stalking over to the X5 male who'd manipulated her with so little effort. He saw her coming and met her halfway, pulling her away from the transgenics still meandering about.

"What I did was necessary," he said, accurately anticipating her, "and don't tell me you aren't glad I called you."

"What you did is trick me," she replied indignantly, poking him in the chest. "You sucked me in."

"And?" Rand challenged her, not intimidated in the least. He knew she was nowhere near as annoyed as she appeared. He'd gotten much better at reading her in the last two months.

As if to prove him right, her lips curved upwards just a tiny bit.

"Nice job."

"Thanks," he replied with a chuckle. "I do pride myself on good work."

"Don't get cocky," she warned him with a smile. "You've still got a way to go before you're in my league."

"Says the girl who fell for it anyway," Rand teased her. Knowing she couldn't deny it, Jess just settled for crossing her eyes at him, which just made him laugh. "Are you sticking around for a while?"

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere until I make sure Alec's slapped a couple of band-aids on this whole baby situation," Jess replied, giving him a quizzical look. "Why?"

"Consider yourself officially grounded for the rest of the night," Rand informed her, his expression turning more serious. "There was another killing in Sector Two. An ordinary this time."

"Any witnesses?"

"Just one."


	17. The Devil You Know

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! Results will be available soon. Also, HUGE hugs to CandyCentric for nominating me and my first story "Chimera" for TBW Awards. We got a place in two categories – 2nd and 3rd! My inner thirteen-year-old is squealing her head off. Merry Christmas!

**Chapter 17: The Devil You Know**

**Sector Two**

"Oh my God," Max muttered, sounding strangled as the odour of blood, entrails and faeces washed over her. She and several other transgenics were spread out a respectable distance away from the alley, inspecting the crime scene using their enhanced vision and various other stealthy techniques that wouldn't alert the police to their presence.

It appeared that the victim, a human male in his mid-thirties, had literally shit himself before he'd been killed.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked, noting the suddenly pale pallor of her skin even as he grimaced at the stench. Max shook her head, doggedly willing her stomach to stop heaving. This one was even worse than Lenny.

_Oh God, I'm gonna throw up_…

Max matched her actions to her thoughts, managing to make it a few feet before she vomited up her dinner. Alec stayed where he was. The truce between himself and Max was fragile enough without him witnessing what she would undoubtedly classify as weakness on the battlefield.

He sighed. Putting their personal issues aside to work together under pressure was becoming a habit for the two of them. They pretty much just switched off that side of things until whatever trouble they were in was resolved and then picked up where they left off. Bitching and moaning didn't seem to have an expiration date on the package.

Max finally returned to his side, her eyes stubbornly avoiding his as she focused on the scene before her.

Okay, so maybe they couldn't _entirely_ switch off their issues, Alec conceded, figuring it was probably wise to take his cue from her and concentrate on the task at hand. Two killings in one night was cause for serious concern. Knowing their luck, it probably wouldn't be the last.

"Whoever it is made an even bigger mess than they did in Sector Ten," Alec observed.

"Do you think it's premeditated?" Max wondered.

"A murder like this is going to make people point the finger at transgenics so I'm gonna go with yes," Alec decided. "I think we're being set up."

"It's like Jam Pony all over again," Max muttered and Alec nodded in agreement. Max huffed impatiently. "God, how long can it take to steal the details from the cops?"

"Dix'll let us know as soon as he's hacked the system," Alec assured her. "Do you want it done fast or do you want it done right?"

"Both," Max replied tartly.

"Give 'im a break, Max. He's going as fast as he can."

Max's lips twisted but she remained silent. She'd never had a great deal of patience and she'd already expended most of her rather limited supply on the whole Logan-Alec debacle. She knew that nothing she said right at that moment would be constructive. Every time she thought she had her temper under control, he opened his mouth and she had to bite her tongue.

Alec read the tension in her stance and let the subject drop. It wouldn't do any good to aggravate Max. They'd both had a terrible night and it wasn't looking like it was going to get any better. So they stood in the shadows, each taking mental notes of what they saw and heard.

It was another half hour before Dix had the goods.

"You've gotta be kidding," Max said, making a face as she re-read the statement to make sure she hadn't made a mistake. "This Cook guy said it was a couple of stray dogs that did that?"

"That can't be right," Alec concurred. "Cody said –"

"I know what Cody said," Max cut him off, ignoring the flicker of irritation on his face. Alec let his attention wander back to the report he was reading. It was only then that he took a good look at the witness's full name and his brow furrowed thoughtfully.

He tapped Jess on the shoulder, distracting her from where she was going through the evidentiary inventory with Rand.

"Check out that name. Do you see what I see?" Alec asked quietly, a knowing glint in his eyes as he passed the report to her. Jess gave him a quizzical look before running her eyes over the words. He could see her mind working and knew the moment she figured it out. She smiled slightly.

"Son of a bitch…" she murmured, shaking her head.

Max noticed their preoccupation. "What's up?"

"Max, take a look at this," Alec urged her as Jess handed over the piece of paper. Max frowned down at it for a few seconds and shrugged.

"Okay, so do you know this Clyde Cook guy?" Max asked.

"Yeah and so do you, Max," Alec informed her with a smirk. "Take a closer look at the whole name."

"Clyde Darnell Eldon Cook still isn't ringing any bells," Max told them shortly, exasperated by their obvious amusement. "What, is he some hick you two ripped off?"

"It's an anagram, Max," Jess explained. "Rearrange the letters. The cops don't even know who they've got."

Frowning, Max glanced back at the name and spent a few moments running a few possible combinations through her mind. Then comprehension dawned and her eyes widened.

"No way…"

**Sector Two Police Station**

Colonel Donald Lydecker sat silently in a chair in the interrogation room of the Sector Two Police Station. Handcuffs were clamped around his bony wrists – a totally unnecessary precaution in his opinion. After all, it had taken all the strength he had left just to make it inside the city limits.

For over a year in his sterile cell of concrete and steel, the only light had been man-made, harsh and fluorescent, a sad parody of the warm glow that slowly changed the colour of the sky from deepest indigo to vivid pink. To a man deprived of fresh air and sunshine for so long, simply being outside was a miracle… but one he could ill-afford to become distracted by.

There was a feral X5 on the loose.

As the commander of the Manticore Project, Lydecker had seen atrocities. He'd committed many of them, ordered soldiers to carry out others but never in his entire career had he seen one of his kids abandon all restraint and destroy everything in their path.

He'd stood in his cell, the keys clasped tightly in his hand, watching in silence as Brax tore the Familiars limb from limb in bestial fury. He hadn't dared step beyond the safety of the steel-barred door until Brax had fought his way clear, leaving a trail of blood and gore in his wake. The X5's only concern was survival. In his animalistic state, he couldn't distinguish friend from foe, let alone friend from former hard-ass CO and Lydecker had no doubt that had he left the relative safety of his cage, he too would have died at the transgenic's hands.

To be on the safe side, he'd waited a full half hour before unlocking the door and letting it swing wide. Muscles weakened from long disuse had protested, cramping painfully as he'd hobbled through the building, trying not to slip in the pools of congealing blood or trip over the body parts strewn about like garbage.

He'd followed the trail of corpses and had been fascinated to discover that he'd been held prisoner in an underground bunker. It had been early evening when he'd emerged into dense forest, the stars glimmering faintly over his head. The sensation of the wind on the skin had been so alien, the sound of crickets so strange that for a moment he'd been disoriented as memory stirred. He'd locked away all thoughts of the outside world, concentrating solely on getting through each day in the snake-infested hell hole. Then when Brax and Mole were dragged down there, he'd focused on them, on getting them through the torture the Familiars had happily inflicted on their captives.

The day White had decided to give Mole to the Phalanx as a new 'toy', Lydecker's hatred of the man had intensified to the point where even dismemberment at Brax's hands seemed a kind fate. It didn't matter that he had no concrete idea of what the Phalanx actually was. It was enough that White seemed amused by Mole's doom.

With Mole's departure, Brax had retreated even further into himself. He didn't trust his former commanding officer and he was trapped in enemy territory. Worst of all, no-one had come for him. Initially both Brax and Mole had been sure that their imprisonment was temporary but as hours turned into days and days stretched into weeks, hope had eroded until they'd realized they were well and truly on their own.

Yet once or twice, Brax and Mole had let slip tiny hints of what life was like outside of their jail. He knew that Max was alive, that the late General Matheson had destroyed the transgenic stronghold, Terminal City. He knew that Elizabeth Renfro had died cauterizing the Manticore site and that Seattle's population stood divided on how to handle the mutants roaming their streets.

Now he found himself in yet another cell, calmly calculating how long it would take for his kids to discover his presence in Seattle and move to take him into custody. All the information they needed was in the witness statement the police had taken from him. They'd had no choice but to take the name he'd given them – he had no ID, no money, no clothing except the tatters on his back. He looked like he'd lived in the sewers for a year and smelled like it too. It was little wonder that he now found himself alone.

The Familiars weren't big on basic human rights.

Stray dogs. Christ. Of all the cover stories in history that had to be the worst but what was he supposed to tell the cops instead? Excuse me, Officer, it was Bigfoot. No, sir, it absolutely was _not_ a torture-crazed X5 that escaped from the basement of a ten-thousand-year-old snake-worshipping cult.

Damn it, what was taking so long? Surely his kids were checking out the murder? He'd taught them to monitor their surroundings in a hostile environment. They should be all over this.

Then he heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and looked up to find himself confronted with a young woman he hadn't seen in a very long time. He blinked, then smiled in grim satisfaction.

He loved it when his kids got creative.

"Hey, Deck," she said coolly as she sat down across from him and leaned back in the chair. She ran a practiced eye over him, assessing his condition. "How've you been?"

"I've been better," Lydecker replied calmly, studying her in return. She looked the same as he remembered –mocha skin and piercing dark eyes. Her hair was longer than it used to be but otherwise nothing had changed. Except maybe her mode of dress. He'd never seen her wearing anything except standard issue military fatigues, boots and sweatshirts. "So, Number Four –"

"Actually, it's Sway now," she corrected him.

"Appropriate," Deck conceded after a moment's thought and she nodded. "No back-up?"

"Oh, there's a platoon parked outside watching the place," she told him breezily. ""But why send them in when I can walk you out the front door and nobody'll remember a thing?"

"Surveillance?"

"You know, the guy who runs it was _so_ sweet," Sway said with a sigh. "He shut down the whole system for me."

"I see you kept your hand in," Lydecker observed wryly and Sway gave him a smug smile.

"Never send an X to do a psych's job," she replied smoothly. "Now can you walk or am I going to have to carry your ass outta here?"

"I can walk."

"Good," she told him, pulling a key out of her pocket. She swiftly unlocked the handcuffs imprisoning his wrists and her hand clamped down on his arm. "Move it."

Lydecker gritted his teeth but said nothing as Sway hauled him up onto his feet like an emaciated rag doll and briskly towed him out of the room, simply staring down those who moved to stop her and telling them to forget she and the prisoner had ever been there. Lydecker had to admire her efficiency. She manoeuvred him out of the police station with a minimum of effort even though his already abused leg muscles were screaming a protest.

As promised, she took him out through the front door. She marched him across the street and all-but-threw him into a beaten-up grey minivan. A black bag came down over his head and he was shoved face-down onto the floor as he heard the car door slide shut. The vehicle lurched forward and Lydecker remained silent, knowing he was in the most precarious position of his life.

Manticore was gone and he was in the hands of the quasi-human soldiers he'd trained relentlessly their entire lives. They were no longer blindly obedient and he was only as valuable as the knowledge he could give them.

Now _his_ life rested in_ their_ hands, not the other way around.


	18. My Kids

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 18: My Kids**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

"There you go, sweetheart," Ember said with a smile as she handed Briar back to her mother, who'd been too wound up to sleep after the whole Max-Alec-Logan debacle. "You gonna give your mom and dad a break for a while?"

"How'd you get her to stop crying?" Syl asked in sheer relief.

"Tryptophan," Ember replied ruefully. "I had the same problem with Bo a while ago. Most of the infants around here have inherited our serotonin deficiency. It looks like Briar was getting seizure headaches."

"She was having seizures?" Krit asked in concern as Syl stared down at their daughter anxiously.

"I don't think so. I didn't see her having any but that doesn't mean it didn't happen," Ember told them, wishing she could ease their fears on that score. "All I've been able to do is crush up some tryptophan pills into powder and add it to some formula. It seems to be doing the trick for now. Usually there's enough tryptophan in breast milk to get the job done, so this shouldn't happen too often."

"You don't think there'll be any brain damage or anything, do you?" Syl asked apprehensively.

"I don't think so. They heal like we do as well," Ember assured them. "If you need proof of what we can handle, just go and see Slade. Jess smashed his head up so badly I'm surprised his brain didn't trickle out of his ears but he's recovering."

Krit and Syl exchanged a worried glance but nodded anyway. Figuring they needed some privacy to absorb this new knowledge, Ember fished an extra bottle of tryptophan pills out of her pocket and handed them to Krit.

"She'll be okay," Ember impressed on them. "Just keep an eye on her for the next few days and keep giving her the supplements."

"Thanks," Syl said softly and Ember smiled at her.

"My pleasure," she replied.

**Sector Two, Safehouse Nine**

Lydecker had been in this situation before. He'd been bound, gagged and blindfolded. The first time he'd been the captive of two rogue X5s – 09ers to be precise – in their desperate bid to rescue their sister from being sold on the black market.

This time he was effectively a prisoner of war and his position was a thousand times more precarious. It wasn't just two X-series soldiers who held his life in their hands this time. His kids were free and he was effectively at their mercy. The thought was sobering but Lydecker remained calm. If they'd wanted him dead sooner rather than later, they'd have shot him by now and gotten it over with.

So once again he waited for them to approach him.

The distinct click of a pistol being cocked caught his attention and he turned his head towards the sound. He had no doubt that it had been deliberate. Whoever had done it wanted him to know he wasn't as alone as he'd surmised. He'd wondered if he was guarded. Either the kid hadn't moved a muscle in about an hour or he'd been walking around without making even a whisper of sound. Whichever one it was, it convinced Lydecker that he was in the company of one of his kids.

"Transgenic or transhuman?" he asked curiously.

"You should be worrying about whether or not I'm going to pull this trigger," a male voice rumbled. "Not about what I look like."

Lydecker may have been blindfolded but there was nothing wrong with his hearing.

"X5-368, if I'm not mistaken," Lydecker decided, recognizing the voice. "Bravo Unit leader."

"It's _Rand_," the X5 male corrected him with a distinct bite to his tone. "Not 368." He was leaning back against the wall, pistol in hand as he watched his former commanding officer through icy blue eyes.

Lydecker cocked his head slightly as the name jogged his memory. "Ah," he mused. "He talked about you."

Rand's brows drew together as he regarded Lydecker suspiciously, wondering what kind of game the old man was playing. Nevertheless, his curiosity was piqued. "Who talked about me?"

"Brax."

Rand's expression darkened. "How do you know that name? He didn't pick it until after –"

The X5's sentence was cut off as the door swung open and Max and Alec quietly entered the room. Rand glanced up at them, irritated by the interruption. Alec gave him a questioning look but Rand set his jaw and held his position.

The blindfold was tugged free and Lydecker shook his head slightly before looking up at his captors.

"Hello Max," Lydecker said calmly, then looked over at her companion. "494."

"His _name_ is Alec," Max informed him crisply. "We don't answer to numbers around here."

Lydecker studied the three transgenics, taking in the changes time had wrought on his perfect soldiers.

Max's hair had grown. It was several inches longer than it had been when they'd destroyed the DNA lab and straight as a poker. She'd always been striking – it was in the genes, after all – but now she looked _sleek_. She stood over him with one hand on her hip, dressed in her standard urban combat ensemble of boots, jeans, tank top and jacket. The no-nonsense look on her face left him in no doubt of where he stood in her estimation.

Well, her fuck-authority attitude certainly hadn't changed.

The male at her side – Alec, as Max called him – was taller than the brunette by a good six inches. He too had a face that Lydecker would never forget. He ran a practiced eye over the X5. The stealth model had filled out slightly since Lydecker had last laid eyes on him, putting on a bit more muscle in the intervening months. It gave him a more chiselled look overall.

Rand, who was glowering at him from the far side of the room, simply seemed harder-edged. He lounged against the wall, giving every appearance of indolence, but Lydecker knew better. The former unit leader would blur into action into the blink of an eye if the need arose.

For her part, Max stared down at Lydecker, trying to reconcile the wasted shadow of a man sitting before her with the cold-blooded leader of the Manticore Project that she remembered. The only thing that hadn't changed was his eyes. They were still an intense steely blue, still far too calculating for her liking.

"Tell us everything you know about the murder in Sector Two," Alec ordered him. He folded his arms across his chest and simply watched the Colonel expectantly.

"What he said," Max agreed blandly, not taking her dark gaze off Lydecker as she spoke.

"Perhaps I can fill in some blanks," Lydecker agreed diplomatically.

"Answer the question or I shoot you," Rand growled from the sidelines. Lydecker shot him a quelling glance and returned his attention to Max and Alec.

"It was X5-813," Lydecker informed them and saw doubt darken Alec's hazel eyes. "Brax."

"Wrong answer," Max told him blandly. "Now how about we try this again without the bullshit?"

"No, wait," Rand interjected. "He started to say something about Brax just as you two walked in."

"Rand, right now I don't care," Max told him sternly. "Brax is dead. We're alive but we won't be for long if we don't figure this out before more people die and the city goes crazy. Now can we get back on the subject?"

"No, he's right," Alec said thoughtfully, his green-gold eyes fixed on the Colonel. "Start talking."

"Brax is alive. The Familiars were kind enough to extend their hospitality to include him and Mole for the last two months," Lydecker replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Brax and Mole were killed when Matheson attacked Terminal City," Max bit out but Lydecker shook his head. "Don't even think about playing around with that, _Donald_."

"They're alive. At least Brax is. I'm not certain about Mole."

"White handed me their barcodes!" Alec's voice cracked like a whip.

"A barcode is not a body," Lydecker reminded them, regarding his former pupil shrewdly.

"What _possible_ reason could White have to keep them alive?" Alec demanded harshly, uncertain of which reality he dreaded more – unwittingly abandoning Brax and Mole to the Familiars or discovering that Lydecker was lying and having a few moments of hope snatched away.

"This," Lydecker replied simply, looking around him. "He needed to know where the transgenics were hiding."

"The locations of the safehouses…" Max breathed as realization dawned and her horrified eyes locked with Alec's. _No, no, no, no_. "Oh my God."

"I'm disappointed," Lydecker said, watching the X5s with blue eyes that had lost none of their intensity. "You all know better than that. I taught you better than that."

Alec felt sick to his stomach but he dragged his armour back on nonetheless, schooling his expression with a massive effort and returned Lydecker's stare.

"Where are they?" Alec asked coldly, fully prepared to beat the information out of the Colonel if necessary.

"I don't know where Mole is," Lydecker told them honestly. "White transferred him, handed him over to something called the Phalanx about a month ago."

Max and Alec exchanged another loaded look. Unlike their captive, they knew precisely who and what the Phalanx was and what that more than likely meant for Mole. Rand was staring at Lydecker, rage and doubt warring for dominance of his expression as his fingers tightened convulsively around the pistol.

"Brax escaped," Lydecker continued. "Three days ago."

"Then where is he? If he knows where we are, why didn't he come back?" Max asked in consternation, watching Lydecker's grim expression intently.

"Because he _doesn't_ know where you are," Lydecker said flatly. He met Rand's eyes, knowing that of everyone in the room he'd been the closest to Brax back in the day. "Not anymore. You've dealt with White. You know what he's capable of."

Rand's other hand clenched into a fist and with an effort, the X5 turned away with a soft snarl.

"Spit it out," Alec growled impatiently, his fingers clenching into fists.

"Brax snapped," Lydecker stated evenly. "White tortured him for fifty-seven days. He overpowered his guards and fought his way free. He killed them all, ripped them to pieces. I've been doing my best to track him."

Max felt bile rising in her throat as the implications of that information sank in. Two bodies torn apart. She and Alec had agreed that the killer had to be someone or something incredibly strong, especially to take on an X6 like Lenny. They'd wondered if it could have been someone that he knew. Max swallowed hard.

"Define. Snapped," Rand said, his voice tightly controlled as his blue eyes burned into Lydecker's once more.

"He's feral," Lydecker replied matter-of-factly, as if he was addressing them from behind a desk at Manticore instead of in handcuffs. "His conscious mind is completely submerged. It may not be retrievable. I've seen it before with the X2s."

Max's mind struggled to associate the picture Lydecker was painting with the calm X5 she remembered. Brax had always been the most objective of the COs, the one to step back and look at the big picture before making decisions. He and Rand had been a double act and a very effective team.

"You saw him kill that guy in Sector Two?" Alec asked tersely, all too aware that Rand was dangerously close to lashing out at their captive. He edged closer to the other male, prepared to restrain him if necessary.

"No," Lydecker replied. "Feral or not, Brax is still an X5 and I'm hardly in any condition to keep up with him. I got there just as the police did. I thought it best to deflect as much suspicion from you as possible."

"Give us one good reason why we should believe you," Max snapped angrily, her temper fraying by the second as all kinds of scenarios ran through her mind, each one tormenting her with a different vision of Brax in Ames White's hands.

"Because I'm telling you the truth," Lydecker replied, looking her squarely in the eyes. "He'll kill anyone who gets in his way. The Seattle PD aren't equipped to deal with this problem."

"Max." Alec tugged on her arm, drawing her backwards. "Rand."

The blue-eyed X5 didn't move.

"_Rand._"

With one final murderous glance in Lydecker's direction, Rand fell back to where Max and Alec were standing.

"Do you think he's on the level?" Alec asked, his stomach knotting up at the thought.

"He doesn't have any reason to lie," Max said with a grimace. "At least not one that I can think of."

"If he's right… we just _let_ White have Brax and Mole," Alec said, letting his anguish come through in his eyes. The tight feeling in Max's chest grew stronger at the thought of how bad things must have been for Brax to break the way Lydecker had described. And Mole in the hands of the Phalanx… she couldn't suppress an involuntary shudder.

"We have to find out if he's telling the truth," Rand decided. "_Now_."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

"Hey Ember!"

The redhead looked up from where she was chatting with an X4 named Hyde to find Vaughn approaching from the control room. He spotted her and strolled over.

"Jett's on the horn for you," Vaughn told her, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

"Okay, thanks," she said with a nod, flashing Hyde an apologetic grin as she jumped to her feet and deserted him. The X4 just shook his head as he watched her go with a tiny smile. If there was one thing that mated transgenics had over married humans, it was intensity. He had yet to hear of a paired X straying.

Or maybe that was simply self-preservation. Their kind were rather territorial in that regard.

Unaware of Hyde's amusement, Ember sat herself down in front of the computer terminal where she could see Jett on the other end of a video feed. His expression softened when he saw her.

"Baby, what are you doing up?" she asked curiously. "Not that you don't look cute at three in the morning."

Jett rolled his eyes and sighed, raking a hand through his shaggy hair as Bo chirruped in the background.

"Bo woke you up, didn't he?" she asked, bemused. "Miss me yet?" When Jett groaned, Ember let out a ripple of laughter. "Well, you don't have to stick it out on your own for much longer. I'm leaving in a couple of minutes."

Jett began to frown in concern but Ember waved him off.

"Relax. Hyde's coming with me," she told him. "He's nocturnal like me and he's been bouncing off the walls trying to find something to do, so I figured he could make himself useful. Besides… I missed you."

Jett expression turned smug and Ember let out a ripple of laughter.

"Hey, don't get too cocky about that," she warned him playfully. "Maybe I just like having someone to keep me warm. It _is_ freezing in Seattle in case you hadn't noticed."

He just grinned at her with a knowing look in his eyes and winked, making her laugh all over again.

"_Be safe_," he cautioned her and she smiled softly. Most of the X5 males had a protective streak a mile wide.

"I will," she assured him. "I love you."

"_I love you too_," Jett replied quietly.

"I'll see you soon," she promised. "Bye."

With that, she switched off the video feed and tried to wipe the grin off her face. Jett just had that effect on her, even if he rarely actually _said_ anything to make her melt. He was an 'actions speak louder than words' kind of guy and she was more than fine with that.

"All right, Hyde, get your ass in gear," she called out as she jumped to her feet, her red-gold hair flying out behind her. "Let's go!"

"Aw, come on, Ember, you oughta stick around. Seriously, what does Jett have that I don't?" Jag asked with a shit-eating grin as he rounded the corner with Hyde.

"A ninety-nine percent chance of getting laid when I get back," she replied and didn't even bat an eye at the guffaws and wolf-whistles that statement provoked. Jag grumbled good-naturedly at her comeback and seemed content to let the subject drop after that.

"Come on," Ember urged Hyde as she moved towards the door. "I've got two guys to put to bed."

Hyde just chuckled at the redhead's enthusiasm as he followed her out into the night.


	19. Prey

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Okay guys, the official reader-chosen dream cast is now available for viewing on my website! Also, anyone looking for confirmation of whether Mole is alive or dead might want to read a one-shot I wrote ages ago called "The Children of Heroes". It's a far-flung-future story set in the BIS universe.

**Chapter 19: Prey**

**Sector Three**

"Would you keep your voice down?" Hyde pleaded as he and Ember strode down the street in plain sight, making their way towards the checkpoint that marked the border of Sector Nine.

"Why?" the redhead shrugged, not worried in the least as she spread her arms wide. "There's hardly anyone around and you look human enough to pass anyway."

"That's easy for you to say," Hyde muttered under his breath but Ember simply threaded her arm through his and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Stop worrying," she cajoled. "All the transgenics are in hiding, remember? As far as anyone else is concerned, we're just a couple of kids out for a walk, burning the midnight oil. Why sneak and creep when we don't have to?"

"How many ordinary kids do you know with eyes like mine?" Hyde asked pointedly, glaring at her with the eyes in question. They were pale green with pupils that were slitted like a cat's.

"Hey, those eyes are cool," Ember argued smoothly. "They're almost as good as mine and that's saying something coming from a nocturnal."

"That's completely different," Hyde replied as she'd known he would. He loved this particular argument. "The X5s and all the subsequent X-series have eyesight based primarily on avian DNA, not feline like mine."

"Are you seriously going to tell me that a cat's got better visual acuity than an owl? Come on, feline eyes are only six times keener than a human's. Owls are up to _thirty-five_ times sharper. No contest."

"You can't compare the two," Hyde continued stubbornly. "They're completely different species."

"Shut up."

"You're just sore because you know you can't win this argument."

"No, I mean it. Be quiet," Ember told him sternly, stopping on the sidewalk to turn in a slow circle as she tried to pinpoint something. "Don't you hear that?"

Hyde pulled a face but obliged her nonetheless, his feline eyes narrowing slightly as he picked up on the sound that had caught Ember's attention. It was a faint, throaty rumble.

"It's a dog or something," Hyde said dismissively but Ember shook her head and hushed him.

"It's not a dog," she murmured, her keen eyes searching the shadows. "Listen. It sounds familiar…" She started to follow the noise while Hyde rolled his eyes.

"Oh, right. Let's follow the familiar growling," he snarked, then realized she wasn't listening – not to him anyway. "Ember!" Hyde broke into a jog and quickly caught up to her as she turned into another street. "Ember, this isn't the time. Let's just get to the safehouse already."

"No, I want to know what it is," Ember told him, her pace quickening.

_Damn curious cats_, Hyde groused in the privacy of his mind as he continued after her. "Ember, just leave it. It's probably some animal that's crawled back here to die."

"And if it's not?" she challenged him, glancing back over her shoulder.

"Then I'm sure the nice homeless person will be glad to tell the nice sector cops how the evil transgenics tracked him down because he was snoring loud enough to wake the dead," Hyde deadpanned in response.

"You don't have to come with me, you know," Ember pointed out with a small huff. "You can wait here and I'll be back in a minute."

"And have Jett throw me off the safehouse roof?" Hyde snorted. "Not likely."

"You're exaggerating. He wouldn't throw you off the safehouse roof," Ember replied reasonably.

"No, the third storey window would probably do just as well."

Ember grinned in amusement, glad that Hyde wasn't in a position to see it as she rounded the corner into a filthy alleyway. This place was the source of the noise, that low, rumbling growl, she was sure of it. She reached up to sweep her red-gold hair away from her face and peered into the murky lane, searching out the point of origin.

Hyde was probably right. Some mangy cat was just making a racket because it'd gotten stuck in the rain earlier. In any case, she walked further in and finally caught sight of a figure huddled among the mass of knocked-over trash cans and soggy cardboard boxes. It was a human, curled up against a brick wall. A breeze wafted by and Ember wrinkled her nose in distaste.

_Jesus, hasn't this guy heard of soap?_ she thought incredulously.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked and the human stilled, letting out a growl that sounded anything _but_ human. Ember felt the first flicker of alarm. Since when did humans sit in back alleys growling? She half-expected him to start howling at the moon next.

_Not funny, Ember_, she chided herself, immediately shoving aside the tiny smile that threatened to well up.

"Okay, it's a guy. Can we go now?" Hyde asked in exasperation just as the human looked up at them.

Ember stopped breathing as she realized who it was. The face was gaunt, the eyes shining eerily as they reflected the moonlight, the near-black hair longer and matted but she'd have known him anywhere.

_Oh… my… God…_

"Brax?" she whispered tentatively, her dark blue eyes enormous as she took in his ruined appearance. Reason told her it _couldn't_ be him. White had killed him and Mole. Sliced off their barcodes and handed them to Alec like trophies. Yet here he was. He was covered in filth and mud and blood… but mostly blood. It was as if he'd been bathed in it. She could smell it on him, the odour hanging heavily in the cold night air.

"Whoa, what?" Hyde asked in confusion, striding up to her side to get a better look. "No fuckin' way…"

"Brax, what happened to you?" she breathed, her voice trembling ever so slightly. He was absolutely still, half-crouched in the shadows, his glowing eyes fixed on her. Something was horribly wrong. _He_ felt wrong, like something had warped him beyond recognition.

She didn't move. She didn't dare. Predators – cats, in particular – chased prey that ran. Yes, that's what he was, what he felt like.

A predator.

"Brax?" she tried again, deliberately keeping her voice soft. "Do you remember me?" She crept forward at a snail's pace, step by tiny step. "It's me… it's Ember."

No response.

"Ember, back up," Hyde warned her as he drew his handgun, complete with silencer. "Get away from him. Now!"

"Shut up!" Ember hissed, her gaze never wavering from the damaged, bloodied transgenic. "Brax, come on, can you hear me?" Her brow creased in concern. "Can you even understand me?"

A low rumble was her only answer. It seemed to echo all around her and she froze in her tracks, still several feet away from him.

"Brax…" Ember kept saying his name like a prayer, as if the repetition might spark some faint glimmer of his former self and tried again. "Brax, do you remember Shaine?"

"Ember, _move away_," Hyde cautioned her again, stepping forward to take hold of her arm.

"Hyde, no!" Ember whispered harshly as he jerked her backwards. The movement startled Brax, who took a menacing step forward, still half-crouched, snarling in the gloom. She slowly prised Hyde's fingers away from her skin, her dark blue eyes boring into his green. His slitted pupils dilated in anger as she turned back to Brax.

The X5 was motionless; his head half-cocked like a bloodhound that had caught a scent.

"Brax?" Ember frowned as she took in his sudden stillness. "Hyde, call it in."

"Ember –"

"_Call it in_," she reiterated firmly, not in the mood to argue. "I'm fine."

The X4 made a face and grudgingly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, punching the buttons with his thumb but he refused to budge from her side, never looking away from the broken transgenic who was staring into the night as if it held the key to everything he'd forgotten.

"Brax."

Brown eyes met blue and what Ember saw there made her shiver. In a flash she understood what was going to happen but it was too late.

Far too late.

The creature that lunged at them out of the shadows wasn't human. It wasn't even transgenic. It was something else entirely, something Ember vaguely recognized as she blurred in a belated effort to escape.

Hyde opened fire and his phone clattered to the ground just as someone picked up.

"_Hello?_"

Nothing except the sickening gurgle of someone choking on their own blood, the wet sounds of flesh tearing and a savage snarl. The voice on the other end rose in alarm.

"_Hello? Who is this?_"

**Outside The Seattle City Limits, Some Time Later**

Three figures sprinted through the trees, moving so fast that that were almost flying. Two X5s and a shaggy-haired transhuman were following a trail deep into the woods, guided only by fading scents, tracks and smears of blood among the ever-thickening foliage.

They'd been running flat-out, stopping only to check their bearings from time to time. The darkness didn't slow them down. With eyes like theirs, they could see as clearly as if it were midday. They'd covered twenty clicks in record time and now they were closing in on their goal.

They'd only been able to come up with two options to verify Lydecker's story – either find Brax or find the bunker they'd been held prisoner in. Since they didn't have the resources to organize a city-wide search the way they had when Jess first rolled into town and the bunker – unlike the X5 in question – wasn't mobile, the choice had been clear. The prison would be easier and most likely quicker to find. Lydecker gave them all the detail he could about how he'd gotten to Seattle, what landmarks he'd seen and the distances he'd covered.

The man was military, through and through. Alec had to give him that. He was as good as a map and compass.

They slowed in unison as they approached the tree line, staying under cover and Alec cursed as he felt his phone suddenly buzz to life in his jacket pocket. Biting back a curse, he fished it out and answered.

"What?" he barked quietly.

"_Have you found it yet?_"

Max.

"We're not sure," Alec replied honestly, modulating his tone so his voice wouldn't carry. "We've seen some people patrolling the area and we slipped through but we haven't been able to verify whether they're Familiars."

"_You can't see the Caduceus scars on their arms?_"

"It's freezing, Max. They're all wearing jackets or long-sleeved shirts. Observation only, remember?"

"_Figures they'd be immune to pain but not the cold_," Max grumbled.

"Is there a reason you called my cell in the middle of a recon mission?" Alec asked a little impatiently. "You're lucky I remembered to put it on vibrate."

"_I need to know if Lydecker's on the level _now," Max told him. "_We've got a… situation… developing here_."

"What kind of situation?" Alec asked, his brows drawing together in concern.

"_Ember and Hyde left Sector Three for Sector Nine two hours ago_," Max said and he could visualise her biting her lower lip on the other end of the line. "_They never arrived and we haven't been able to contact them_."

"Shit…" Alec breathed, screwing his eyes shut for a second. "Does Jett know?"

"_Yeah and he's freaking out big time_," Max replied. "_Dix reported that they received a call from Hyde's cell earlier but when they picked up there was no-one there_. _I've been trying to talk Jett down but it's not going so well_."

"Didn't think it would," Alec told her honestly, ruthlessly squashing down his fear for the redhead's safety. He couldn't afford to be distracted. "All right, I'll call you as soon as we know."

"_Good_."

The next thing Alec heard was a rhythmic beeping noise. Max had hung up.

"What is it?" Rand asked anxiously, creeping silently towards him with Joshua by his side as Alec flipped the phone closed and pocketed it once more.

"Believe me, pal, you don't want to know until we've figured out if Lydecker's telling the truth."

Rand quirked an eyebrow but didn't press for more details. Joshua sniffed the air and all three lowered themselves onto the ground so that they would be harder to spot as they advanced.

"Deck said the bunker was underground," Rand said thoughtfully, running his eyes over the landscape, "and that the entrance was pretty well hidden. What do you think?"

"I think we have to hurry," Alec replied grimly. "All right. Spread out and check the area. Report back here in fifteen minutes. If Deck gave us the right information, it should be around here somewhere and watch out for patrols."

"That goes without saying, pal," Rand replied as he looked over at Joshua. "Ready, big guy?"

"Joshua ready," the dog-man replied and Alec nodded.

"Move out."


	20. Predators

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **I'm baaa-aack. So, so, _so_ sorry about the delay but my muse abandoned me. I put up lost posters all over the neighbourhood and everything! In the end, it turns out that intense anger is my creative trigger. So you can thank a _really_ bad week for this. lol

**Chapter 20: Predators**

**Outside Seattle**

Alec returned to the rendezvous point at the same moment Joshua did to find Rand already waiting, having searched his quadrant as thoroughly as he could within the allotted time.

"No joy," Rand reported with a shake of his head. "You?"

"Nothing. Josh?" Alec asked quietly and straightened when the transhuman nodded.

"Heard people talking," Joshua replied, then growled softly. "Familiars."

"How can you tell?" Rand wondered. "Did you see the Caduceus?"

"Scent," Joshua murmured. "Smell different to ordinaries. Like us."

"That makes sense, I guess," Alec conceded, then smirked at Rand. "Do you want to tell White that his people stink or will I?"

"Well, since you're such a close, personal friend, I'll leave that up to you, pretty boy," Rand said graciously, then turned to Joshua. "How far?"

The dog-man didn't reply verbally. He simply gestured for them to follow him and darted into the brush. The three of them moved swiftly and silently, ducking and weaving through the foliage. Before they knew it, they were crouched in the undergrowth, peering through the darkness at what appeared to be nothing more than a small cave entrance… except for the two sentries posted on either side.

"Jesus…" Alec growled. "The old bastard was telling the truth."

"Snake in the cocktail," Joshua whispered, sniffing lightly.

"Good work, Josh," Alec said softly as he and Rand exchanged a loaded look.

Lydecker had said that Brax had literally torn apart anyone who'd gotten in his way, too crazed by that point to determine friend from foe. From their vantage point, they could easily discern not only the sickening stench of blood, sweat and excrement but also a mound of body parts. It seemed that the Familiars were trying to clean up Brax's mess.

"How many Familiars did each of you count?" Rand asked.

"Three on my sweep," Alec replied.

"Four," Joshua murmured.

"I counted four as well," Rand said grimly, his blue eyes still fixed on the cavern entrance. "I know Max said recon only but we can't leave this place intact."

"Agreed," Alec said with a nod. "Josh? You in?"

"Joshua in, Medium Fella," the dog-man affirmed. "We destroy it."

"Good. I say we break out the party favours," Rand decided as he swung the small bag off his back. "They oughta leave one hell of a dent."

"Rand brought explosives?" Joshua asked softly, regarding the X5 curiously.

"Always be prepared, big buy," Alec told him, clapping him on the shoulder as Rand handed over the explosives in question and caught Alec's questioning look.

"What?"

"Semtex?" Alec quirked an eyebrow at Rand, mildly surprised by his choice. The X5 still bore the scars of his last encounter with that particular brand of plastic explosive.

"Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, right?" Rand shrugged.

"I don't know, man," Alec replied doubtfully. "If that's true, why do I keep getting shot in the shoulder?"

"Because Max reserves the right to kick your ass," Rand told him matter-of-factly. He turned to look at Joshua. "You know how to use this stuff?"

"No," Joshua shook his shaggy head.

"Okay, you cover our six and if any unexpected guests show up, you break 'em in half," Rand suggested. "Cool?"

"Cool," Joshua agreed with a soft growl.

"Let's burn it all down, boys," Alec instructed them quietly, his eyes fixed firmly on the entrance to the bunker. "This one's for Brax."

"For Brax," Rand and Joshua echoed.

**Sector Three**

Max flashed a quick hand signal and sprinted forward, leaping from one building to another like the cat she partly was, her keen eyes searching the darkness for any sign of trouble. A split-second later, Jett and Jess landed on either side of her with trademark X5 grace.

As far as Max could tell, there was only one advantage to everyone knowing that she was pregnant – no-one dared lay a hand on her. So Jett was forced to either work with her or go through her. It was working out quite well, in Max's opinion. The position of CO put her in charge but her medical status made her untouchable.

Not only did Max have Lydecker under guard in Sector Two – more for _his_ protection than anyone else's – while Alec, Rand and Joshua backtracked the Colonel's movements but now she'd had to scrape together a platoon and lead them out to locate two missing transgenics. They hadn't been able to contact Hyde or Ember and neither transgenic had checked in. To the military mind, that meant one of three things – they were dead, captured or incapacitated. None of those options were comforting.

Max knew she could have sent Boyd in her stead but with Jett prowling around like a caged tiger, she figured she'd only be satisfied if she took care of this one herself. Besides, she was sick of sitting on the sidelines. She was supposed to be a leader and for the last few days, she hadn't been acting like it. The platoon had split up into groups of three in the interest of playing it safe and they were sweeping the area as thoroughly as they could without alerting the general populace to their presence.

Max was heading up the scouting party. She and her two companions were well-ahead of the rest of the unit, checking to make sure the coast was clear of cops or civilians before the main body of soldiers moved in to sweep the area.

Jett shifted restlessly on her left, impatient to keep moving. It hadn't been easy to stop him from charging off into the night by himself to search for his mate. It had taken every ounce of bad-ass attitude she possessed to force him to back down. In the end, she'd given him a choice – stick with her and do as he was told or sweat it out under the watchful eye of Abe and several other transhumans in the building.

It was amazing how much anger Jett could express without speaking.

To be fair, Max didn't think she'd be any better if their roles were reversed. Even after everything that had happened that night, she knew she'd probably go running after Alec if she thought for a second that he needed her help. Hell, she'd done it more times than she could count, albeit grudgingly on some occasions. She couldn't fault Jett for wanting to do the same for his mate.

The redhead wasn't reckless by any means… not like some others Max could mention. She cast a sidelong glance at Jess, who was crouched on the side of the building, peering down at the street.

Jess had not only volunteered for the mission but she was suddenly all business, an attitude that had taken Max completely by surprise. She sometimes forgot that despite the blonde's general disregard for the chain of command, Jess was as well-trained as any other X5 and right at that moment Max needed as many soldiers as possible to search the area.

Jess looked over her shoulder at Max and gave the 'all clear' signal. Max's eyes slid over to Jett, who nodded and mimicked the signal from the other side of the building. Having already checked the front, Max reached for the radio on her shoulder.

"Scout to ground unit. All clear. Over," Max said softly.

"_Acknowledged_," Boyd replied promptly, keeping it short and sweet.

Max signalled to the two X5s and they both nodded silently, dropping over the side of the six-storey building and out of sight at the same moment Max did. She let herself plummet one level at a time, smoothly catching and releasing each ledge until she was hanging only a few feet above the ground. Jett and Jess emerged just as Max's boots hit solid earth again.

The checkpoint was now only a few minutes away, surrounded by smaller buildings that weren't worth the effort of scaling. They'd cover the rest of that Sector on foot, staying within visual range of each other. Max caught Jett's gaze and held it, silently reinforcing her earlier command that he stay with them. A flicker of rebellion coloured his expression but he stayed in position, his eyes burning into the darkness as if it had better give Ember back to him or suffer the consequences.

Behind Max, Jess watched the standoff out of the corner of her eye but didn't say a word. The dark-eyed X5 male shifted his focus to the blonde, who merely quirked an eyebrow at him. Jett knew exactly why Jess had volunteered for this particular duty even if Max didn't – she was looking out for Alec's interests in his absence. He also knew that Jess never went anywhere without at least one gun stashed somewhere on her person.

Defying Max on her own would have been dangerous enough without factoring a transgenic bodyguard into the equation. Any injury could jeopardize his fitness to continue the mission and find Ember. So he reluctantly stayed where he was and awaited Max's orders. She nodded and they started forward, keeping to the shadows as they advanced towards the Sector perimeter.

Max was a heartbeat away from leaping over the fence when her radio crackled to life.

"_Ground unit to sweep. Come in_."

"We hear you," Max replied in a hushed tone as Jett and Jess closed ranks on either side of her. "What have you got?"

"_We found Ember and Hyde_."

Boyd's voice was oddly flat and when he didn't offer any further information, her mind filled in the blank easily enough. Max closed her eyes, pursing her lips as a wave of sorrow washed over her. She drew in a deep breath and swallowed hard.

"Okay," Max replied quietly. "Lock it down."

She looked up and met Jett's stricken stare.

**Outside Seattle**

The sharp _crack_ of a spine snapping in his hand was nothing new to Alec. The Familiar sagged instantly in his grasp and the hazel-eyed X5 lowered his victim silently to the ground. A moment later he heard an identical sound from a few feet away where Rand had been subduing the second guard. Joshua was playing sentry a short distance away, covering their advance from behind.

With hearing even more sensitive than that of an X-series soldier, Alec was confident that nothing would get past the dog-man.

They'd already taken out four of the eleven patrolling 'guards'. Clearly they believed their location was secure or they'd have been more vigilant. Alec wondered briefly why they would think such a thing when a military Colonel had just escaped and subsequently eluded capture… unless they believed he wouldn't make it far in his admittedly pitiable physical condition.

The sheer arrogance of the cult was starting to grate on Alec's nerves. They consistently underestimated the transgenics and those associated with them to their own detriment.

Alec figured this wasn't the main body of the Familiar's force. A small contingent had been left behind to guard the bunker and oversee the clean-up effort while the rest of them were deployed to track Brax and Lydecker.

Well… White's venom-sucking cronies were in for a surprise when they got back, weren't they?

Alec fingered the bulge of the explosives in his jacket pocket and crept towards the entrance as Rand appeared at his side. They moved in unison, flattening themselves against either side of the rough wall of the cave as they cautiously followed the downward-sloping passage, their eyes quickly adjusting to the gloom.

The further in they explored, the smoother the wall became until it was completely flat – as flawless as any wall at Manticore. Rand appeared to be thinking the same thing – he ran his fingers over the surface thoughtfully as he moved, his other hand moving to the pistol he had tucked into the back of his jeans.

Slowly the soft scuffing of shoes against dirt became clearer and Alec began signalling to Rand, who nodded and responded in kind. The faint glow in the distance was better than a neon sign. They'd be able to see their goal with only minimal chance of being seen themselves until it was too late.

Just to be safe, they used every ounce of training they possessed to fade into their surroundings until they both had a clear shot at their respective targets. They squeezed off a round each in perfect unison and watched in satisfaction as the guards hit the ground, their blood painting the wall behind them.

"Ladies first," Rand murmured to Alec, his blue eyes glinting with humour as he gestured to the steel doors embedded in the rock. Alec just shook his head and gave his companion a half-hearted shove. He couldn't really blame Rand for lightening the mood a little. Neither X5 was particularly looking forward to entering the prison that had been Brax's home for two months.

"Ready?" Alec asked softly as he plucked the magnetic key from the guard's belt.

"As I'll ever be," Rand replied in a hushed tone, his fingers tightening on the grip of his pistol. "Open Sesame."

Alec swiped the card through the electronic lock, getting a distinct sense of déjà vu as the door swung outwards from the wall. It looked exactly like the one in the warehouse – the one that had slammed shut on him and Max, leaving them trapped in a sealed room with limited oxygen.

"You okay?" Rand murmured, noticing Alec's momentary hesitation.

"Yeah. Let's go," Alec said quickly, shaking it off and stepping into the grey concrete corridor that stretched about fifty yards in either direction. The hazel-eyed X5 was immediately grateful that he hadn't brought Joshua down here. It looked too much like Manticore for Alec's peace of mind.

He felt rather than saw Rand beside him, facing the opposite way, and his thumb slowly traced the pattern on the butt of his pistol. Now that they were inside, the smell of blood and other bodily fluids pervaded their senses instantly… and there was something else. Alec recognized the scent all too soon.

Brax.

He glanced at Rand, at the stone cold expression that had settled over his friend's face and knew that he'd picked it up too.

"Okay," Alec said flatly. "We plant the charges every hundred paces and get out fast. Then we give it a ten count and blow it."

"Read my mind," Rand agreed grimly and the two X5s separated simultaneously, moving towards opposite ends of the corridor, weapons at the ready. He turned the first corner and halted, his brow furrowing in puzzlement.

"What the…?"

The corridor abruptly branched off, giving him three options – left, right or dead ahead. He peered down the passage to his left and saw it branch off three ways yet again.

_That's just fan-freakin'-tastic_, Alec grumbled inwardly, gritting his teeth. _Why do I get the feeling that Deck used the back door to this place?_

For a second, the tale of the Labyrinth flashed through Alec's mind. Joshua had told him about the legend once, gleaned from one of Father's musty old books. Some ancient king had hidden a monster in the maze and sent humans in as sacrifices, knowing they would wander until they died from thirst and starvation or they would be killed at the hands of the Minotaur.

Hadn't Logan said that White's cult had roots in ancient Greek mythology?

Glancing back at the entrance only to find that Rand was already out of sight, Alec gathered his thoughts and began building a map in his mind.

Alec took a deep breath, adjusted his grip on his pistol and plunged into the maze.


	21. Trade Off

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Queasy people should _not_ read this. Consider yourself warned. Huge thanks to Sonam for her gentle (cough) nudge to get this chapter finished sooner rather than later.

**Chapter 21: Trade-Off**

**Sector Three**

One second Max was staring into Jett's wounded dark eyes, the next he was moving so fast that she didn't have a prayer of stopping him. The brunette broke into a run, sprinting after him with a muffled curse.

"Jett!" Max called out, all pretence of stealth forgotten. He didn't slow down but she hadn't really expected him too. Her control over him had been tenuous to begin with. Now, with Boyd's words ringing in their ears, it was non-existent. She blurred in his wake, knowing that even at her top speed, she was no match for his longer strides.

Buildings flashed by and before Max knew it they'd covered five city blocks. She could hear the sound of Boyd talking in a low voice as they closed in on his position. She opened her mouth to shout a warning but it was already too late.

Jett came across Boyd's first sentry, who stepped in to challenge the intruder and had only a split-second to recognize a fellow X5 before he was bodily thrown into the wall.

"Jett, stand down!" Max snapped as she rounded the corner into the alley and flicked a glance over her shoulder at Jess. The blonde caught Max's drift and obediently slowed to check out the half-conscious watchman as the brunette continued her pursuit.

Then Jett stopped so abruptly that Max barely avoided slamming into him from behind, twisting to her left and grabbing hold of his arm lest he try to take off again. She followed his line of sight and found herself staring down at a scene that made her guts roll for the second time that night.

"Jett…" she breathed, forcing herself to look up at him.

He stood absolutely still in her grasp. The only sign of life was the slight bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed convulsively, his expression oddly frozen. His brown eyes darkened almost to black, roiling with a mixture of emotions that sent a shiver down Max's spine.

Everyone was watching him, waiting for him to react. Max's fingers tightened on his bicep and she glanced at Boyd, who was crouched at the very farthest end of the alley beside Hyde's body. There was a haggard look on his face she'd never seen before.

Max's eyes followed the trail from Boyd to Hyde, whose head was twisted one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. Limbs were scattered around, the rest of him surrounded by a pool of congealing blood which had hand and footprints tracked through it, leading away from the transhuman. A trail of crimson extended for some twenty feet, becoming fainter until it encountered yet another dark puddle of thick liquid.

Ember's vibrant copper hair was fanned out in the gore, her unseeing blue eyes staring up at the night sky. Her face had been clawed, deep gouges running diagonally from her hairline to her jaw. Her skin had leeched of all colour, taking on a sickly grey pallor. Her fingernails were torn and bloodied. She'd clearly fought her attacker. She was still in one piece. She hadn't been taken apart as the others had though she was marked up enough to let them know it had been a close thing.

Her throat had been ripped out instead, leaving a great gaping hole in its place.

Max thought about the last time she'd seen Ember, playing with her son, and the brunette's hand came up to cover her mouth as every emotional response she possessed shut down out of sheer self-preservation.

_Jesus… Bo…_

Max sucked in a breath and gazed up at Jett once again. Not one word, not one gesture. He didn't even seem to know she was there. He was just staring down at Ember but she could feel the tension running through him, coiling in his muscles.

She was only vaguely aware of Jess and a few others moving slowly, subtly moving to surround her and Jett. Flanking _her_, she suddenly realized, ready to intervene if her proximity to Jett placed her in danger.

Some instinct warned Max not to relinquish her grip on Jett. The contact, small as it was, was holding him in check. It was a lifeline, some small thread he was clinging to as he absorbed what he was seeing.

Max heard the soft, unmistakable _click_ of a gun being cocked and her eyes slid towards the sound. Jess stood a mere three feet behind her and Jett, a pistol held unobtrusively at her side. The blonde met Max's gaze and shook her head silently – she knew what Max was thinking. She wouldn't fire unless she was forced to.

"Jett," Max said softly, tentatively. "You don't need to see this. Please… come with me."

His jaw clenched, the muscles working as she carefully placed a bit of pressure on his skin, hoping – vainly, perhaps – that he would acquiesce and follow her out of the alley. No-one should have to see their loved ones like that. An image of Eva, sprawled on the floor, of Tinga in the tank, flashed through her mind and Max bit down on her lower lip, choking down the urge to scream at the loss of yet another life.

"Jett…?" she whispered again, pleading with him.

For the first time since she'd met him, Jett _felt_ dangerous to Max. She could see the rage building, could sense it in his stance, in his eerie stillness. Her instincts screamed at her to step away before he lashed out.

The decision was taken away from her when Jett pulled away from her grasp and walked towards Ember. To Max, he seemed to be moving in slow motion. Every eye in the alley was fixed on him as he knelt down beside her, heedless of the scarlet staining his clothes and gathered her into his arms, burying his face in her hair. A soft, broken growl escaped his lips as he rocked her gently.

The wrenching roar that suddenly exploded out of Jett made Max flinch, the sound slicing across her nerves like a knife. She pursed her lips, her chest tightening at the heartbreaking scene.

_God, Alec… please, please, please just tell me Brax didn't do this_…

**Outside Seattle**

"Okay… I officially hate Greek mythology," Alec grumbled as he wended his way through the passageways.

Brax's scent surrounded him, making him edgy as he focused on not only listening for footfalls in the surrounding area but memorizing the path he'd taken. He was simultaneously calculating distance and direction as he explored, trying to discern a pattern, if there was one. The map in his mind was expanding rapidly. Based on what he'd seen so far, he knew that if this was the lobby, the rest of the place must be immense. The thought did nothing to improve his mood.

_In and out fast_, he'd said. _Plant charges every hundred paces_, he'd said. He was starting to regret killing those guards. In hindsight, they'd probably known the correct route to follow.

Twenty-seven minutes. Twenty-seven _freaking_ minutes when he'd told Joshua that twenty was more than generous. Alec wondered briefly if Rand was faring any better. Hell, maybe Rand was fine and happily playing around with the Semtex while Alec had picked the wrong door and ended up lost. After all, he hadn't heard any sign of Rand's presence in his vicinity.

Then again, Rand would be moving silently like Alec was. Damn him, couldn't the guy trip over and crash into something? Just once?

With an exasperated sigh, Alec gritted his teeth and found himself at yet another intersection in the maze. He _really_ wanted to blow this place up and get it over with. He couldn't even cheat by jumping up on top of the walls because of the sheer height of them. The walls were as smooth as they had been in the cave outside, so there were no handholds available.

_The next time we get a tip about a secret base, Max can check it out her damn self_, he thought, decidedly irked by his lack of progress. He would have used some of the explosives to blast his way out except it was a confined space and getting caught in a cave-in wasn't his idea of fun.

At least he'd been able to keep moving in the same direction for the most part. He figured the maze had to have an end point somewhere. If he could work out the dimensions of the place, it would make things a bit easier.

_This is a joke_, Alec thought, shaking his head as he came to a dead end and rolled his eyes. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, intending to call Rand, and flipped it open only to let out a groan. No reception. Of course not. Why would a phone get reception thirty feet underground?

_This is some fucking Familiar mind game, isn't it? Screw this. Getting dragged outta here by White's snake boys is better than wandering aimlessly in this rat-trap for God-knows how long_.

Alec turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Rand! Report!" he bellowed. His voice echoed for a moment and then fell silent.

"Subtle, Alec," he heard Rand call out in response from a considerable distance. "_Real _subtle."

"Bored yet?" Alec asked in return.

"Hell yes," Rand replied impatiently. "So do you have a plan or were you just gonna stand there and wait for the nice Familiars to come and rescue you?"

"As appealing as that sounds, I was kinda hoping you'd settle for giving me all your calculations and letting me get us out of this."

"Ass," Rand shot back. "Fine, listen up 'cause I'm only going to say this once, you got that?"

"I'm all ears," Alec assured him and didn't say a word as Rand dutifully rattled off a list of distances and directions. It took several minutes but by the time he was done, Alec had two separate sets of schematics in his head and was comparing them.

Alec smirked a little. The two halves were identical.

"Any thoughts, genius?" Rand prompted him.

"Yeah, I'm thinking I'm gonna have a headache when this is all over."

"And I'm thinking this place has gotta be huge if no-one's heard us and come to find out who's making all the noise," Rand pointed out. "We're overdue. Joshua's going to call for back-up if we can't get out of this soon."

"Where are you?" Alec asked, the thought of the dog-man waiting for them sobering him quickly.

"Facing south, six hundred-and-twenty-eight metres in from the point of entry, two-hundred-and-twelve metres from the eastern perimeter of the maze."

Alec nodded to himself. "All right, turn right and take the second left…"

After a few minutes, they finally found themselves at an impasse with approximately one-hundred-and-fifty metres of space between them that they had not yet explored.

"Back to the drawing board," Alec called out, raking a restless hand through his hair. This was turning into a logistical nightmare. "All right. Check it out and report back in five."

"This was _not_ in the brochure," Rand groused as he got to work, making Alec chuckle. By the time they'd finally navigated their way to the centre, both Alec and Rand were well-and-truly fed up with the entire situation.

"So that takes care of your separation-anxiety issues," Rand snarked, "but we still need an exit, princess."

"Actually, that shouldn't be so hard," Alec informed him. "I've got the pattern now. The maze seems to have been built in four quarters. The two halves split down the middle in either direction are a mirror image of each other."

"So you figure our way out is on the flip side of the entrance?" Rand surmised. "All right. Let's get this done before Josh calls in the cavalry. You're in enough trouble with Max as it is."

"Thank you so much for reminding me," Alec drawled sarcastically, throwing Rand a withering look and privately vowing to find a way to dump his friend in it with Jess the first chance he got.

He almost smiled. His sister was nothing if not imaginative. No doubt she could cook something up for Rand.

"Come on, I'm starting to get claustrophobic here," Rand urged him, his blue eyes flashing in irritation.

Once they had the pattern worked out, it didn't take long for the two X5 males to find the right course. They found their way barred by yet another steel door. Thankfully, the magnetic key Alec had pocketed worked its magic a second time.

Alec and Rand emerged from the labyrinth and stopped, staring around them.

"Damn…" Alec muttered, more than a little impressed by the spectacle. The cavern was immense, all red earth and stone. It looked like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

Rand let out a soft, appreciative whistle.

"Okay, so the cult knows how to build 'em big."

**Sector Three**

Max stood at the mouth of the alley with her back pressed against the cool brick wall, watching Jett with sorrowful brown eyes. No-one had the heart to pry him away from Ember. Instead, half of the unit had set up a perimeter guard while Boyd and a few others continued the search the area in an effort to find the killer. He had more than one transhuman in the platoon capable of tracking by scent.

"Are you all right?" a soft voice asked and Max glanced over her shoulder to find Jess standing there, her expression giving nothing away.

Max shrugged. "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry about Ember," Jess continued gently. "I liked her."

"Yeah," Max whispered sadly, still staring at the X5 male bent over the body of his mate. "Me too."

Jess didn't pursue the subject any further, moving a few steps to the side so as not to crowd Max. The brunette folded her arms across her chest, grateful for the space. She really didn't want anyone trying to give her false comfort right then.

She didn't know how long she'd been standing there when she heard footsteps approaching from behind her. She and Jess looked up yet again as Boyd stopped just short of the alley and gestured for them to come closer.

"What is it?" Max whispered, instinctively lowering her voice so as not to alert Jett. She was dreading the answer even as she spoke the words.

"Come with me," he urged softly and began steering them away from the murder scene. Max and Jess exchanged a concerned glance but followed him nonetheless, the brunette's brow creasing in growing unease.

Boyd guided them into a building that had been condemned for years and that was when Max began to notice the crimson trail of droplets and bloody smears on the floor. Something or someone had dragged itself in here. Max was reminded horribly of how Alec and Ember had found Jett half-dead by following a similar trail just three months ago.

Three months? Max blinked. It had to be longer than that, surely. So much had happened… She frowned and quickly added it up in her head. Yep, three months. Damn…

"Wolf found him," Boyd announced, startling Max out of her reverie. He stepped into a darkened room where a group of two transhumans, one X6 and an X5 were all aiming their pistols at a filthy, huddled mess of a creature that was half-sprawled in a corner, hissing softly.

Max's dark eyes widened as she looked past the greasy, matted hair and recognized the face underneath. She suddenly felt like she'd been punched in the gut.

"Brax?"

Blood was oozing from several bullet wounds and deep lacerations across his face and limbs – claw marks. Max suddenly realized how the redhead's fingernails had been ripped up so badly. He snarled softly in the darkness, his eyes flashing eerily as they reflected the light. There was no hint of recognition in those eyes, no sign of the X5 she'd known a mere two months ago.

Just like Lydecker had said, all that was left was an animal… an animal that had killed two of his own kind. Three, if she counted the X6 from earlier that night.

_Seen it before… may not be retrievable… fifty-seven days… killed them all… feral…_

The Colonel's words echoed in her mind, taunting her with the horrifying truth. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Brax, the sight burning its way into her memory. Another crazed X5, shattered beyond repair like her beautiful, twisted brother Ben. The brother she'd killed.

The comparison broke Max's heart.

"Jesus…" Jess breathed, staring down at Brax. "Has he responded at all?"

"No," Boyd replied with a shake of his head. "We tried talking to him. I don't think he understands a word we're saying."

"Have you ever seen an X5 like this?" Max asked, forcing the words past the lump in her throat as she looked from Boyd to Jess. "Either of you?"

"Never," Boyd replied quickly.

"Once," Jess replied hesitantly. "It wasn't quite the same though. She wasn't feral, just… broken."

Max sucked in a deep breath, knowing that no matter what decision she made now, it was going to get ugly. If she gave the order to put him down, they'd never know if he could have recovered. But what if she let him live and he hurt or killed more people?

Only a few blocks away was an X5 who'd once been as close to Brax as a brother and had now lost his mate at his former friend's hands. Would Jett try to take revenge? And what about Shaine? How could Max ever tell her that her mate had lived only to start killing his own kind? That the Brax they knew was gone and something else entirely had taken his place?

The situation and its potential consequences were looking bleaker by the second.

The sudden buzz of the cell phone she'd recently acquired distracted Max and she impatiently fished it out of her pocket.

"What?" she snapped into the phone.

"_Little Fella_…"

"Joshua?" Max blinked, her brow furrowing.

"_Medium Fella gone too long_," Joshua told her, his voice tinged with concern. "_Said twenty minutes. Almost forty-five_."

"Twenty minutes for what?" Max asked warily, all kinds of possibilities leaping to mind.

"_Found Lydecker's base_," Joshua informed her. "_Rand and Alec went in. Destroy it_."

"What?" Max exclaimed, barely managing to keep her tone down to a harsh whisper. "That was a recon mission. They weren't supposed to destroy anything!" Despite her efforts, her outburst caught the attention of several X5s including Jess. The blonde gave Max a questioning look.

"_For Brax_," Joshua explained. "_For Mole_."

Max could feel a migraine coming on. She was going to kill Alec… if the Familiars hadn't gotten to him first, of course. Why, why, why had she naively let two of the males who'd been closest to Brax go on a mission they were in no state of mind to be objective about?

"All right," she told Joshua. "We're coming. Give me the co-ordinates."

"Max?" Jess prompted her after the brunette had hung up.

"We're going after Alec," Max told Jess stiffly, her eyes sliding over to the ruined X5.

"What about Brax?" Boyd asked carefully.

Max screwed her eyes shut and made her choice.

"Take him back to the safehouse. Keep him sedated and restrained… and don't tell Jett."


	22. Two By Two

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **I couldn't resist throwing in some Max/Jess bitchiness.

**Chapter 22: Two By Two**

**Outside Seattle**

_That stupid, arrogant son of a bitch!_ Max fumed as she tore through the pre-dawn darkness on her beloved Ninja. _What the hell was he thinking? He's going to get himself killed!_

Max hadn't waited for the rest of the transgenics she'd taken off Boyd's hands to get themselves organized. She'd given them the co-ordinates and had left immediately with Jess in tow, determined to use the time to find Joshua and get the place scouted before the others arrived.

"Did he pull stunts like this back at Manticore?" Max demanded to know, raising her voice to be heard over the rushing wind.

"Not on this scale," Jess shouted back from where she was perched behind Max, holding onto 452's waist. "Wouldn't know after '17. He stayed at the Seattle Base."

_Right_, Max thought grimly, remembering the file Logan had put together on Alec. _Further disciplinary training_.

"Let's get one thing clear," Max yelled. "When we get them out of this, Alec's ass is mine. Got it?"

"As long as he's still breathing when you're done, we won't have a problem," Jess told her.

"I can work with that," Max grudgingly agreed and gunned the engine yet again, hearing the answering roar as the motorcycle accelerated, carrying them ever closer to their goal.

**Inside the Base**

"Well… that's impressive," Rand conceded with a nod. "Very Temple of Doom."

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing," Alec replied, taking in their surroundings. They were on a rock shelf approximately ten feet wide with stairs on either side. Before them was a sheer drop of about twenty feet. After that it levelled off into a huge expanse of packed-down dirt floor.

"What's the matter, Alec? Afraid you'll get offered up to some whacked-out snake god?" Rand asked mischievously, grinning at his friend.

"Speaking of…" Alec trailed off, gazing down at the farthest point in the cavern. Rand followed his line of sight and blinked.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Rand muttered, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Come on, let's take a closer look," Alec decided, striding off the ledge. He landed in a crouch to cushion the impact and straightened, aware that Rand had done the same and was now walking by his side, gun in hand.

"This is way too exposed, pal," Rand cautioned him.

"There's no-one here," Alec pointed out.

"That we know of," Rand corrected him, glancing around warily.

"Take it easy, Short Round."

"Blow it out your ass, Alec."

Alec's lips twitched but he held a diplomatic silence. Humour had done its job so far in keeping them grounded but they were covering and they both knew it.

This place was all kinds of freaky. The size of it, the alien feel to it… the all-too-familiar scent of it. Give them military bases and radioactive city blocks. Give them weapons and tactics and people who wanted them dead… but don't give them a cult stronghold that smelled like blood and Brax.

It was a choice between sarcastic humour or cold fury and considering their present situation, anger wasn't going to do them any favours. Anger made you careless.

So with Rand watching his back, Alec approached the figure that had caught his attention and moved around to examine it from the front.

It was of a woman, towering over them by a good five feet, with her arms outstretched, a snake held in each hand. It looked ceramic, like it had been glazed. The lustrous sheen certainly wasn't natural.

"I amend my previous statement," Rand said glibly. "The whacked-out snake god is actually a goddess."

"What the fuck is this place?" Alec muttered, staring around grimly.

"Whatever it is, I'm up for barbecuing it," Rand decided, lowering his pistol and producing a piece of Semtex. He slapped it firmly on the base of the effigy. While Rand busied himself affixing the detonator, Alec backed up to inspect the stone platform that stood on a dais another ten feet or so into the cavern.

It stood as high as his waist and was a perfect oblong, the sides inscribed with symbols that were all-too familiar. They were identical to the runes that had appeared on Max's skin all those months ago. Alec reached out to trace them with a finger, etching them into his memory, which was becoming a little crowded considering the amount of data he was absorbing in a single night. He circled the altar, examining each symbol in detail, until something else caught his eye.

A hint of white in the dirt floor.

He picked it up and got to his feet, smoothing the curve of it with his thumb.

"That's a metacarpal," Rand said, all traces of humour now gone as he stared at the bone Alec was holding.

"Which begs the question: where's the rest of the body it was attached to?" Alec wondered grimly. The place was giving him the creeps, which wasn't easy considering his upbringing.

_Bring her. The priests have been wanting a female to sacrifice_.

The words, spoken by Ames White in the warehouse, had been uttered in reference to Shaine, who'd literally put herself between Rand and the Familiars that day. She'd saved his life. Would this have been the thanks she'd gotten if Boyd and Abe hadn't saved the day? Would White's priests have carved her up on this altar?

Would they have cared that she was pregnant? Most likely not. The bastards had no regard for any lives except their own. They'd have slaughtered her without a second thought and probably danced on her entrails.

Alec wasn't looking forward to telling Shaine what they'd discovered. The girl had a temper to rival Max's and she'd only gotten worse since Brax had been taken from her. He was under no illusions that it would be a pleasant visit.

For his part, Rand moved towards the back of the cavern where the ground gave way to a wide, murky expanse of water that disappeared under a rock shelf. A flash of… something… below he surface made him tense and back up a step.

"Uh… dude? There's something moving down there," Rand said warily as he scrutinized the water. He couldn't make out anything definitive no matter how hard he tried. "Something big."

"Something big?" Alec echoed. "Can you be a little more specific?"

"No, or I'd have told you what it was, wouldn't I?" Rand replied blandly. "Though it looked kind of… well, scaly."

"Scaly?" Alec exhaled in a rush. "Great. We're stuck in a B-grade monster movie. I just knew it. All we need now is a damsel in distress."

Rand snickered and Alec gave him a quelling look.

"One more 'princess' out of you and I will personally throw you into that water," Alec warned but Rand didn't look the least bit repentant. He glanced over at Alec and gave him a jaunty salute just as the 'something' in question loomed up out of the water.

"Rand!"

Rand lunged, blurring away from the edge before Alec's shout had even died. Even so, he felt something snap at his heels, missing him by a hair's breadth. Alec managed to get a shot off and retreated several feet with his friend.

"I don't think soldiers are the only things the cult have been breeding," Alec hedged. "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

**Outside the Base**

"Joshua?" Max called out as loudly as she dared. They were creeping through the forest towards the co-ordinates the dog-man had dutifully supplied. "Joshua, where are you?"

"Joshua! Here, boy!" Jess quipped jokingly.

"Don't do that!" Max hissed, throwing the blonde a disgusted look over her shoulder.

"I was kidding, Max," Jess informed her, unfazed by the brunette's temper. "Lighten up a bit. You're going to end up with an ulcer."

"You know, this was working so much better when you weren't talking," Max reminded her pointedly. "So unless you've got something useful to contribute, do me a favour and shut up."

"Fine," Jess replied with an exaggerated sigh, rolling her eyes at Max's back.

"Help me to understand something, Jess," Max continued acerbically, her desire for silence abruptly forgotten. "You and Alec, you're called stealths, right?"

"Yeah," Jess replied, regarding Max curiously.

"So how is it than whenever you and Alec are in stealthy situations like creeping on a Familiar base or waiting for a guard shift to change, you can't keep your mouth shut?" Max asked in exasperation. "Is non-stop yapping in your genetic code or something?"

"Like bitching is in yours?" Jess asked with a glimmer of amusement. "Maybe."

"You're as bad as he is," Max muttered in frustration but instead of being insulted, Jess let out a ripple of soft laughter. Max raised her eyes skyward and tried not to groan out loud.

_Brilliant idea, Max_, she chided herself. _Bring Alec's crackpot sister along on a rescue mission_. _Great! It's like dropping a piano._

"So… how's it going with you and Al, anyway?" Jess asked carefully.

"What the hell makes you think that I would ever talk about something like that while I'm out in the middle of nowhere with_ you_?" Max asked scathingly, holding Jess' rather startled gaze.

"I think it might be time to switch to decaf, Max," Jess observed dryly. "It was just a question."

"It's none of your business," Max insisted.

"All right," Jess replied, holding up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Breathe, okay? I'm not using thumbscrews here, you know."

"Is this your master plan?" Max demanded hotly as she rounded on Jess. "Get me alone and then babble at me until I crack?"

"No, Max, my master plan is to make you hate even more than you already do because our lives just don't suck hard enough already," Jess replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're the one who invited me to this little party in the first place, by the way."

"Temporary insanity," Max replied without hesitation.

"Use that excuse often?"

Max's eyes narrowed and she bit her tongue. They really needed to stop talking. With everything she already had on her plate, she didn't want to explain to Alec why his sister was lying in a shallow grave.

That might put a crimp in her plans for bringing him around on the whole relationship issue… after she kicked his ass for getting himself into trouble, naturally. Their current issues aside, she still had every intention of making Alec see things her way. Max was thoroughly sick of not being 'like that'.

"Well, for what it's worth…"

Max gritted her teeth, prepared to hit Jess if necessary.

"… I think you're good for Alec."

Damn it. Why couldn't she have kept on being nosy and irritating? Max didn't reply and Jess seemed to take the hint, falling silent at long last. They continued making their way through the trees, Max taking the lead.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Jess piped up after another ten minutes.

"Of course I know where I'm going," Max growled.

"It's just that I think we've already come through here."

"If you think you can do better –" Max began challengingly.

"I don't," Jess replied quickly, back-pedalling when she realized just how short Max's temper really was. "You're optimized for this night-stuff. I'm not."

"Hmph. Good," Max grumbled. "Now remember what we talked about?"

"Right. Shutting up."

"Little Fella!"

Max pinpointed Joshua's location the moment she heard his voice and smiled in relief.

"Joshua!" She darted through the brush to his side. "Are you okay?"

"Joshua okay," the dog-man assured her. "Worried about Alec and Rand. Not smart to go in alone."

"You did the right thing calling for back-up, Josh," Jess told him as she crouched down and peered into the darkness, examining the layout of the area.

"How long have they been gone?" Max asked.

"Over an hour," Joshua informed them.

"So what do you think?" Jess asked as she and Max stared down at the cavern entrance.

"I think that if Alec and Rand went in there and got caught, we need another entrance," Max replied thoughtfully. "They'll be expecting reinforcements to show up."


	23. Crashing Down

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Sorry, guys, but life keeps throwing me curve balls lately and I end up doing everything _except_ this. I'll try to update more regularly from now on. This one's a bit of a jumble, so please be patient with it.

**Chapter 23: Crashing Down**

**Outside The Base**

"Gotcha," Max crowed quietly as she spied the second entrance and gave Joshua a congratulatory thump on the shoulder. "Good work, Big Fella."

"Familiars smart. One exit not smart," Joshua replied, his modesty coming to the fore as he shrugged it off. "Wanted to help Alec and Rand."

"Remind me to lend you a Sherlock Holmes novel," Jess said quietly, tossing a smile in the dog-man's direction. He whuffled slightly, his canine version of a laugh, and grinned, baring his impressive teeth.

"All right, we're going in," Max declared.

"Wait, what about the others? They'll be here any minute," Jess protested.

"Knowing Alec, one more minute's going to mean he gets his head blown off," Max told her with a huff.

"Good point," Jess conceded, making a face. "Let's go."

"Joshua come too," the dog-man interjected but Max quickly shook her head.

"It's too dangerous," the brunette told him. "I need you to wait here for us, Big Fella."

The dog-man shook his head. "Protect Little Fella and Tiny Fella."

"It wouldn't hurt to bring some extra muscle along, Max," Jess chimed in helpfully. The brunette glared at her balefully but Jess just shrugged it off, rolling her eyes.

"Joshua –" Max began but the transhuman cut her off, emphatically shaking his head.

"Joshua going," he stated firmly, flatly refusing to take no for an answer. "Rescue Alec and Rand. No arguing. We go." With that, he strode towards the entrance before Max could stop him and Jess trailed in his wake.

Max was left with no choice but to concede the field and follow them.

**Inside the Base**

"How much Semtex have you got left?" Alec asked as he and Rand approached yet another steel door. It hadn't taken long for the two X5s to navigate their way past of the cult's sacrificial chamber to territory they were more familiar with – a bunker patterned similarly to a military base. Neither had been eager to stick around with a dinosaur-sized snake swimming around.

"A little goes a long way with this stuff," Rand cautioned him. "I brought enough to level a city block and we've already planted two thirds of it. We have no way of knowing how big this place is."

Alec nodded, acknowledging that his friend was right. "We didn't really think this one through, did we?"

"A fact I'm sure Max is never going to let us forget unless we can get out of this before she shows up," Rand pointed out. "And you know she will."

"All right, we check out what's behind one of these doors and if we can't work out an exit, we back-track through the maze and pull the trigger," Alec decided. "At least then we'll know where we're going."

Rand nodded and Alec grabbed the handle, pulling it open only to be overwhelmed by the pungent odour of decomposing corpses. He stepped back, coughing as Rand grimaced and covered his sensitive nose.

"Holy shit," Rand muttered under his breath. "I guess they haven't cleaned this section out yet."

"Rand."

Alec was staring through the door, at the space beyond the threshold. Rand followed his line of sight and his brows drew together in consternation. He stalked past Alec, all but shoving him aside in his haste only to stop dead three feet in.

The left hand side of the room was lined with barred cells, the floor littered with pieces of flesh and bone. The doors to two of the cages stood open. The only intact body was inside the first cell, the neck bent at an impossible angle. From there, the two X5s could easily follow the trail of bloodshed. The second victim's jaw had been torn from his head. Blades and bullet casings were scattered amongst the gore.

"Brax…" Rand breathed and then sniffed slightly. "And Lydecker."

"Come on. We've gotta get out of here." Alec surged forward and grabbed Rand's arm, forcibly steering him past the evidence of Brax's rampage. Yet another corridor stretching to the left and right loomed before them and Alec gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Okay, plant the charges up that passage and then we're hauling ass outta here," Alec told his friend. Go."

Rand didn't waste time arguing but jogged up the hall to comply while Alec moved in the other direction, determined to destroy as much of this place as they possibly could. However, the view through one of the doors distracted him momentarily.

Chains were bolted into the ceiling and reinforced to withstand the unnatural strength of their transgenic prisoners. A small metal tap protruded from the wall, attached to a common garden variety hose. The cement room was colourless except for the floor. Mixed among the grey were a multitude of stains, some faded with age and others only a few days old. Alec recognized the colour of blood instantly and his expression hardened.

Alec could see it clearly in his mind's eye. They'd strung them up like animals. Brax and Mole, maybe even Lydecker. The Familiars had cut them open and hosed the floor down once they were finished, like they'd been butchering a pig instead of a person.

With a soft snarl, Alec stalked out of the room and attached some of the explosives to the door. That room needed to be destroyed, more than any other. It was at that moment that he heard footsteps and looked up just as two men rounded the corner, grimy and sweaty and smelling like a sewer.

The clean-up crewmen stopped, staring at Alec with a mixture of blatant surprise and suspicion.

"Who the hell are you?" one demanded, stepping forward to challenge Alec. Later, the X5 wouldn't even remember crossing the distance between the door and the Familiars. He didn't remember Rand sprinting to his side to take on the other one. He just saw red.

All he wanted in that moment was retribution. He wanted someone to pay for what had been done to his friends.

His fists slammed into his opponent's head over and over again, moving so fast he was blurring in his rage. The sickening crunch of breaking bone was quickly replaced by the trickle of blood and grey matter out of the Familiar's ears and what remained of his nose.

Then Rand was there, trying to pull him off and Alec's strikes finally slowed. He got to his feet, staring down at the unrecognizable mess. His hands were bathed in gore, his clothes and face spattered with it. He took a moment to steady his breathing and met Rand's eyes.

"Alec, stop," Rand urged him. "He's dead. You can stop now."

His friend pulled him away and Alec gazed down at the damage he'd wrought. Rand's grip on Alec's arm tightened and he finally allowed himself to be led. They took off, running back the way they came, leaving the bodies where they lay.

They sprinted through corridors, through the cavern, through the labyrinth, up the rock passage towards the surface. They kept going, putting as much distance as they could between them and the bunker, racing through the trees to where they'd left Joshua.

"You ready?" Rand asked, holding up the remote as they moved.

"Do it."

**Meanwhile…**

"Ugh. Does this place remind you of Manticore or is it just me?" Jess groused softly as they made their way inside. She wrinkled her nose. "God, this place smells like a garbage dump."

"What, you've never smelt a decomposing body before?" Max whispered with a slight bite to her tone. "You're the one who was at Manticore for ten extra years. Didn't you kill enough people to recognize the smell by now?"

"I've killed plenty of people, Max," Jess replied dryly. "I can read you the list if you'd like."

"I'll pass," Max said, shaking her head. "Let's just find Alec and Rand and get out of here. I don't want to be out of Seattle for too long."

"I could have come out here by myself if you wanted to stay," Jess pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I don't have all that much faith in your judgement," Max told her. "Your track record for decision-making sucks."

"Before you start throwing accusations around, please keep in mind that I'm holding a loaded gun," Jess warned. "Didn't we all agree to agree that I screwed up a lot and move on?"

"Easier said than done," Max replied matter-of-factly. "Some people screw up and learn from it. You screw up and just keep going."

"Isn't that kind of like the pot calling the kettle black or whatever?"

"Please," Max drawled sarcastically. "My screw-ups were personal. Your screw-ups got Terminal City mobbed and then bombed."

"Oh sure, 'cause it was my fault that you went into heat at Crash," Jess sniped, her hackles rising. "I'm always wrong, right?"

"Stop," Joshua chided both of them sharply, halting the hushed argument before it could escalate any further. "Fight later. Find Alec and Rand."

"Sorry, Big Fella," Max apologized, giving the transhuman a reassuring half-smile. "I guess it's a good thing you came along after –"

The all-too-familiar thunder of explosions suddenly rocked the structure. The ground shifted under their feet and Max was thrown off-balance, slamming violently into the wall. The ceiling caved in and Joshua grabbed hold of Max, shielding her smaller form with his own as the bunker collapsed around them.

**Outside The Base**

The deafening roar made Alec's ears ring but he didn't slow down. He just kept going, knowing instinctively that Rand was right behind him as he tried to outrun the rage that was boiling up inside of him.

It seemed such a small, petty thing but at least one thing was now assured. That place would never serve as a prison again. Not for Mole, whom they had yet to find, or Lydecker, whose sins seemed too numerous to hold out any hope of redemption.

Even if he could never do anything else to help Brax, at least there was one less thing in the world that held the power to hurt him.

"Joshua?" he called out, knowing they were nearing the place where the dog-man was waiting. "Josh!"

**Back in Seattle, Sector Nine, Safehouse Five **

Jett didn't really see anything around him as he finally returned to his safehouse, escorted by Vaughn and Jag. He was only half-conscious of the stares he received, his clothes, arms and even his cheek stained with drying blood. His long hair fell around his eyes like a curtain, obscuring his view of anything but the stairwell that led to his son.

Whispers followed him up the stairs but his brain couldn't seem to make sense of anything that was being said. He felt disembodied, like he'd wake up and find Ember beside him, content to take advantage of his body heat on cold mornings even though she couldn't sleep. He knocked without thinking, simply running on autopilot.

Kestrel opened the door and stopped cold, her dark eyes travelling over him, taking in his bloodied, dishevelled appearance.

"Jett…" She swallowed, reluctant to voice her thoughts. She looked up into his eyes, the windows to the soul that belied his silent exterior, and stepped aside without a word. He headed straight towards the room where the children slept at opposite ends of a crib.

Cleo's chestnut hair gleamed softly in the dim light. In stark contrast, Bo's black locks seemed to absorb the light rather than reflect it. Cleo slept on peacefully but Bo was awake as usual, gurgling contentedly at his father. He'd always been nocturnal, just one of many traits he'd inherited from his mother.

Not the least of which were the dark blue eyes that stared up at Jett, blissfully unaware of what had happened.

Jett was dimly aware that he was in shock. He was completely numb, disconnected from everything around him. All he could hear was the static in his head, the voice in the back of his mind screaming over and over again.

_She's dead. She's gone. She's never coming back. She's dead. She's gone_…

He closed eyes, trying to switch it off to no avail. He kept picturing her in that alley, her beautiful red hair stained with blood, her unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. His gaze dropped down to Bo again and the baby boy waved his little fists in the air, smiling up at Jett. He reached out to stroke Bo's downy hair but drew back, belatedly realizing his hands were covered in Ember's blood.

He sank down onto the ground and leaned his forehead against the side of the crib, choking back the urge to put his fist through the wall. He wanted to tear the place apart but he couldn't seem to move. There was only the cool floor and Bo, who was rolling over to reach through the wooden slats and tug on his father's hair.

Jett was only capable of one coherent thought.

He was going to find whoever killed Ember… and he was going to do to them what they'd done to her.


	24. The Little Black Box

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Let this be a lesson. No character is safe…

**Chapter 24: The Little Black Box**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Boyd stared down at the unconscious ruin of an X5 sprawled out on the cement floor, the image burning its way into his brain. He just couldn't reconcile what he was seeing with the unflappable CO he remembered.

Brax had always been the most objective of the unit leaders, the first one to step back and look at the bigger picture. Now he was just a shell of his former self, his humanity stripped away to leave nothing but a creature ruled solely by instinct. It was that part of the transgenics that the ordinaries feared – the animal. They wondered if at any moment the 'freaks' might snap and turn, destroying anything in their path.

And here, not ten feet away, was all the proof they would ever need to win the argument.

Never mind that the Familiars had tortured Brax until he broke. The ordinaries wouldn't care how it happened… only that it had. They'd start calling for blood all over again.

The thought made the hair on the back of Boyd's neck prickle. Their people were relatively safe where they were, hiding in their safehouses, keeping a low profile, but that wouldn't last forever. Lasering off barcodes may have removed the most obvious differences in the X series but it was only a matter of time before someone saw something they shouldn't. Maybe an X5 would blur without thinking or a transhuman wouldn't get out of sight quickly enough.

When that happened, they'd be forced to fight for their lives once again. He and Sari would be forced to protect their son Kyp, who couldn't protect himself. All it would take was for one person to say the wrong thing about Brax to the wrong person and it would all be over.

Sway chose that moment interrupt his ruminations and stride down the stairs, black hair swirling around her shoulders. She was still sleep-mussed and looked more than a little irritated.

"Okay, so I'm out of bed at this stupid time of the morning," she began. "What's going…" She trailed off as she saw the creature lying in the room. She glanced up at him, as if she wasn't entirely certain she trusted her own eyes. "…on? Is that…?"

"Brax," Boyd replied grimly. "What's left of him."

"Explain," she said, folding her arms across her chest as she gazed at him expectantly.

"White lied."

"That's it?" Sway asked, staring at him as if he was crazy. "You drag my ass out here to show me a _half_-dead CO that we all thought _was_ dead and all you're going to say is 'White lied'? Boyd!"

"White lied. White tortured him. White broke him," Boyd amended through gritted teeth. "He's feral and now I need you to keep him under control."

"Me? Boyd, tele-coercion might not even work on him if he's feral," Sway pointed out.

"So try when he wakes up," Boyd suggested sharply. "If it doesn't work, you have my permission to shoot him. I'll take full responsibility."

"Yeah, tell that to Max," Sway replied sceptically. "She does know about this, right?"

"She ordered him brought in," Boyd replied, his gaze still fixed on Brax. "We have to keep him contained." He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Sway, he killed Ember."

"Shit…" she whispered harshly, pursing her lips. "Who knows about this?"

"Max and Jess, Wolf and Abe and few other X5s," Boyd informed her. "We're trying to keep it quiet until we can figure out what to do with him. I need you to stay with him until I get back."

"Where are you going?" Sway asked as Boyd started up the stairs.

"To tell Shaine."

**Outside Seattle**

The first thing Max was aware of was the effort it took to breathe. Something heavy was weighing down on her chest and dragging in a lungful of air bordered on painful. Her eyes opened a crack and she soon realized what was pinning her down.

"Joshua?" Max pushed at him but got no response. The dog-man was a dead weight, his bulk almost crushing her. The two of them were wedged between the wall and several broken slabs of concrete which had shielded them both from the worst of the cave-in though Joshua had taken the brunt of the impact. "Joshua, wake up."

She worked an arm loose to search out a pulse and was relieved to find one, slow but steady.

"Joshua…" Max started to squirm, awkwardly trying to wriggle her way out from underneath him. Her shoulder protested against the movement but she kept going, crawling through the dust and dirt as she tried to drag the dog-man along with her. She couldn't just leave him there but even with transgenic strength it was slow going. Dust and dirt slipped through the cracks, coating both of them just in case they weren't filthy enough to begin with.

By the time Max had finally pulled herself and Joshua clear, she had only come to one solid decision – the next time she saw Alec, the half-assed cocky bastard was going to die for bringing a couple of tonnes of concrete and soil crashing down on top of her head. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone only to find that it had been crushed beyond repair.

"Okay, Big Fella, this is probably gonna hurt," she warned him, hoping he could hear her even though he was unconscious. She swiped her mud-streaked hair away from her face and started examining the transhuman for injuries. She could already smell the blood. She ran her hands over his neck, mentally rationalizing that if it was broken his chest wouldn't be rising and falling, albeit with a slight wheeze that wasn't reassuring at all.

Seconds later she found the first wound. Two ribs sticking out through the skin. She eased his shirt up to inspect the rest of his torso and winced. He had at least three other breaks and by the sound of it, his lungs weren't in great shape.

_Shit, shit, shit_….

"Come on, Big Fella," she muttered as she stripped off her jacket and shirt, leaving her in a black singlet. "Wake up and tell me where else it hurts. Come on… Jess?" Max glanced around, searching the darkness for any sign of the blonde as she started tearing her shirt into strips. "Jess!"

Max did her best to splint his ribs without restricting his breathing, swearing colourfully as she realized she didn't have anything with her that could possibly be effective as a dressing for a penetrating chest wound. She also knew she shouldn't leave him alone but she had to find out what had happened to Jess.

"Okay, I'll be right back, Big Fella," Max told him and got to her feet. "Jess?" She carefully picked her way through the rubble. "Typical. As soon as I want her to start talking, she shuts up. Jess!"

The blonde couldn't have been more than a few feet behind her and Joshua, so when Max didn't immediately see any sign of her, she gritted her teeth and switched tactics. Twenty years of military training wasn't easy to shake off.

"X5-767! Report!" she ordered loudly only to be rewarded with nothing but silence. Max threw caution to the wind and started tearing through the debris, flinging it aside as she searched. "Jess, answer me right now!"

_I can't tell Alec his sister's dead. I just can't…_

There it was. A black boot. Attached to a leg. A leg that wasn't moving and disappeared under a mound of soil and rock.

"_Shit_," Max cursed in frustration as she grabbed hold of the limb and pulled the blonde free of the rubble. "Jess?" She rolled her onto her back, hastily checking for breathing and a pulse. Her own heart skipped a beat as the seconds passed and she couldn't find any signs of life.

_Okay, two breaths, thirty compressions_. Manticore's field medicine drills flashed through her mind as she checked Jess' airway and got down to business, grudgingly acknowledging that the hellhole she'd spent most of her adult life running from had been good for something.

One minute.

Two minutes.

"Damn it, wake up," Max pleaded between breaths. "Don't do this…" Another puff of air and she started the compressions again. "Come on, please don't make me explain this to your brother."

An X5 could survive without oxygen for nine minutes before suffering brain damage – just another tasty morsel she'd picked up during her second stay at Manticore. She heard a rib crack under the pressure.

_God, how long has she been down?_ Max wondered desperately. She may not have like the girl but she certainly wouldn't have wished this on her.

Three minutes.

Jess suddenly coughed violently and jerked away from Max, drawing in a ragged breath as her eyes fluttered open. Max sagged in sheer relief and put a hand on the blonde's shoulder to steady her, rolling her onto her side.

"Jess? You with me?"

The female continued coughing, gasping as she tried to suck oxygen back into her body. She seemed completely disoriented, not that the brunette could really blame her. Coming around after being shot in the chest hadn't been the most coherent experience of Max's life either.

Max stepped over Jess and crouched down, lifting the blonde's head up so that she could get a good look at her. "Come on, look at me." She patted the girl's cheek sharply and watched Jess' blue-green eyes start to come back into focus. "Shake it off, that's it."

"Max?" Jess croaked, blinking up at her.

"Yeah, it's me," Max assured her. "Just stay here and take slow, deep breaths, okay? I'll be right back."

Still too shaky to argue, Jess merely nodded and swallowed hard as Max darted back towards Joshua. The dog-man was still alive but his breathing had sped up. She chewed on her lower lip as she ran her eyes over him yet again, searching for any injuries she might have missed the first time. Blood coated one side of his face, oozing from a cut along his hairline where he'd been struck by falling rock, but otherwise he appeared to be in one piece.

"I literally owe you my first born for this one, Big Fella," she said softly, her hand resting over her abdomen for a moment as she gazed down at him. "Thanks."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Boyd stopped in front of Shaine's door and drew in a slow, deep breath.

Right then he'd have given his right arm to have Sway at his side, smoothing over what would undoubtedly be a messy confrontation. He'd spent the entire journey back to the safehouse trying to figure out what to say to the female in question but had come up empty.

In the end, he just squared his shoulders and knocked. He heard Shaine stirring and belatedly realized he'd probably woken her up.

_Yeah. Great way to start a conversation with a hormonal, short-tempered X5 female. Wonderful_.

The door finally opened and the sleep-rumpled brunette blinked up at him, dressed in hastily-donned sweat pants and a singlet.

"Boyd, it's five o'clock in the morning. What gives?" she asked with a hint of irritation.

_No turning back now_, he thought, sending up a quick prayer that Shaine wouldn't react as badly as he suspected she would.

"We, uh… we found Brax."

Shaine's curious expression faded, becoming grim as she folded her arms. She pursed her lips and her gaze dropped downwards. She looked stoic but he knew it wouldn't last.

"He's alive."

Shaine's dark eyes snapped back up to his face, a spark of anger flashing across her beautiful features.

"That's not funny," she said softly, her dark eyes hard and accusing.

"No, it's not," Boyd agreed, holding her gaze as he forced himself to continue. "He's alive, Shaine, but he's not… he's not himself." He watched as that sank in and Shaine's expression suddenly wavered from angry to vulnerable and confused.

"Wait…wait a second," she stammered in angry disbelief, her voice rising with every syllable she uttered. "Wh… what do you mean he's not himself? How can he be alive? The Familiars killed him. The barcode –"

"I'll explain everything, Shaine, but you need to calm down –"

"Don't you tell me to calm down, Boyd!" Shaine snapped heatedly. "You walk in here, you tell me that Brax isn't actually dead and you expect me to be fucking calm? Tell me what the hell is going on here right now! _Where is he?_"

"Shaine –"

The brunette surged forward, slamming Boyd against the corridor wall and holding him there.

"You tell me everything right this second," Shaine growled, "or they'll be pulling you outta here in a body bag."


	25. Search and Rescue

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **Satisfied, Sonam? lol.

**Chapter 25: Search and Rescue**

**Outside Seattle**

"Josh!" Alec sprinted around the perimeter of what used to be the Familiar base and was now a rubble-filled crater, his heart pounding. "_Josh!_"

"Tell me he didn't do what I think he did," Rand pleaded as he went over the edge and skidded down into the fissure. "Josh!"

"Careful, it's unstable!" Alec warned him as he followed Rand down. "Joshua! Damn it!"

"Josh!" Rand bellowed. All pretence of stealth had been abandoned as the two X5s realized that the dog-man was nowhere to be found. Considering how sensitive Joshua's ears were, it was beyond unlikely that he hadn't heard them.

"He wouldn't have come in after us alone," Alec reasoned, though he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. "He's too smart for that."

"Well, I don't know about you but I don't see any back-up around here," Rand pointed out as he tested the ground beneath his feet, trying to gauge whether it would hold their weight or give way. "Could more Familiars have shown up and grabbed him?"

"I doubt it. You didn't see him fight at Jam Pony," Alec denied with a quick shake of his head. "_Josh!_"

"We didn't see him on the way out," Rand protested.

"Deck didn't mention a maze either," Alec replied. "He must have found a back door."

"Jesus, Alec, if we blew that while he was inside –"

"_Don't_ finish that sentence!" Alec growled. "Just keep calling for him." _Come on, Josh. Please_… "Joshua!"

"_Alec?_"

The shout was distant and definitely not Joshua.

Alec and Rand exchanged a look of alarm.

"Wolf?" Alec bellowed in return, unable to keep the relief out of his voice as he recognized the voice. "Double time it, soldier!"

"Yes, sir!" came the crisp reply and in less than thirty seconds, Wolf and about ten others emerged from the trees and stared at the swathe of destruction laid out before them.

"We've lost Joshua," Alec reported hurriedly. "We think he went in after us when we pulled the trigger."

"What about Max and Jess?" Wolf asked urgently, stopping Alec dead in his tracks. He turned back to look at Wolf, his skin paling by several shades.

"Max and Jess?" Alec echoed as his stomach twisted painfully.

"Tell me that was a really bad joke," Rand asked, sounding strangled.

"Josh called Max and they took off ahead of us," Wolf replied, frowning as he read Alec and Rand's identical expressions of growing consternation. "They had about a ten minute lead. You haven't seen them?"

"No," Rand informed them, not liking the suspicion that was forming in his mind as he glanced at his friend. "Alec, weren't we just saying Joshua wouldn't go in after us alone?"

Alec's lungs suddenly felt constricted. _No, no, no, no, no_…

"_MAX!_"

**Meanwhile…**

"Is he okay?"

Max looked up to find Jess slowly and rather unsteadily making her way towards them.

"I'd give anything for some cellophane right about now," Max confessed, raking a frustrated hand through her filthy hair. "I think he might have punctured a lung. His breathing's all messed up."

Jess plunked herself down on the nearest mound of rubble and gazed down at the dog-man, remaining uncharacteristically silent as she rubbed at her aching ribs.

"Sorry about that," Max said, gesturing towards Jess' chest. "I figure a cracked rib's a fair trade-off for being resuscitated. How're you feeling?"

"Dizzy," Jess replied honestly, "but no trauma."

"Well, it's a start, I guess," Max conceded.

"What about the two of you?" Jess asked, glancing pointedly at the brunette's abdomen, and Max sighed.

"We're okay so far," she replied, though she couldn't keep a note of worry out of her tone. "I _feel_ okay."

"Good," Jess nodded, coughing slightly as she did so.

Max ran her eyes over the blonde and reached out to search for the pulse-point in Jess' neck.

"Your heart rhythm seems okay," she mused. "Good thing we heal quick, huh?"

"Considering that I'd probably have brain damage by now if we didn't, I'm gonna go with yes on that one," Jess replied blandly.

"You mean you didn't have brain damage before?" Max asked innocently.

"Funny," Jess drawled but her lips twitched nonetheless. "Hey, Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving my ass."

"You're welcome," Max replied sincerely and they lapsed into a companionable silence that – predictably – lasted all of thirty seconds.

"So do you have any ideas on how to get us out of here?" Jess asked as she took in their surroundings.

"Not yet but give me a minute," Max replied as she got to her feet. Jess almost overbalanced as she tried to do the same but Max caught her by the arm to steady her. "Uh uh, you're staying right here with Joshua."

"It'll go faster if we both look," Jess reasoned.

"And you'll just slow me down if you keel over," Max replied sternly. "I've got it covered, so stay here and watch him for me."

"Guess I don't have much of a choice, huh?" Jess replied ruefully.

Max nodded and picked her way through the rubble, staring up at what had once been the roof. In its place was a gaping black hole but she still couldn't see the sky and she found herself wondering how far underground they were.

_Alec, when I get my hands on you_…

Max aborted that train of thought before it became unmanageable. There'd be plenty of time to vent her temper on the male in question _if_ they found a way out. Right then, she couldn't afford to be concerned about anyone except herself, Jess and Joshua.

As far as bad situations went, this was one of the worst she'd ever been in. It ranked right up there with being recaptured by Manticore and being under siege at Jam Pony. She really hated being boxed in like this. It was like being chained to the bottom of the tank back before the escape, holding her breath until someone saw fit to release her - preferably before she passed out from oxygen starvation.

Max shook her head to clear her mind of such useless ruminations and set about evaluating the structural integrity of the corridor. It wasn't completely blocked – when she carefully climbed up there was still a small gap between the broken ceiling and the pile of rock and soil beneath it. However, she didn't trust it to stay intact for much longer.

"What do you think?" Jess called out after a minute or two.

"I think that this whole place is going to come down," Max replied. "Just depends on how long it takes and whether we're still stuck here when it does."

"Well, we're going to have to figure something out. There's water leaking in from the far wall over here."

"Great," Max huffed. "Just fucking great. How fast?"

"About three metres by two metres so far," Jess reported. "Fast enough."

"We're gonna have to move Joshua," Max realized, chewing her lower lip as she jumped down from her perch on the side of the blockage and returned to Joshua and Jess. "Come on. Give me a hand."

Jess moved to obey without argument. "Where do you want to put him?"

"As far away from the water as possible," Max replied, casting a sidelong glance at the expanding pool before she returned her attention to the dog-man. "Try to keep his arm immobilized."

"Ya think?" Jess shot back impatiently. "I know what I'm doing, Max."

"Right," Max said sceptically, rolling her eyes.

**On the Surface…**

"Max!" Alec shouted at the top of his lungs. "Jessie! Josh!"

"Wolf, can you track them by scent?" Rand asked, trying and failing to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

"I'm on it," Wolf replied and started jogging around the perimeter of the fissure the two X5s had created, sniffing the cool air for any sign of the two females.

"They could be all right," Alec posited carefully. "We didn't put explosives through the whole place. We had no way of knowing how big it was."

"You think they might just be cut off?" Rand asked.

"Maybe," Alec replied tautly. "Maybe…"

"Are you coming?" Wolf called out from a fair distance away and the two X5s darted towards the sound of his voice. The grey-furred transhuman, named for the main component of his genetic cocktail, was loping through the trees, his ears twitching at the slightest sound.

The transgenics fanned out behind him automatically, falling into position as naturally as they breathed, following his nose without question.

**Underground**

"We're never gonna find a middle ground here, are we?" Jess asked after another long silence.

"A middle ground?" Max echoed blandly as she finished the last strip and sheathed her knife. "_You_ actually want to find a middle ground with _me_?"

"This whole thing with you and Alec kind of makes us sisters-in-law, so I figure it couldn't hurt to try a little harder, okay?" Jess explained though she looked anything but happy about it.

Max blinked, staring down at the blonde with a mixture of doubt and curiosity.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she asked finally, uncertain of what to make of this new development.

"Look, I suck at sharing my little brother, okay?" Jess admitted angrily. "You've got how many siblings? Eleven? I have _one_, Max, and I've pretty much screwed that relationship up, so excuse me for being a bit defensive."

"Six," Max corrected her softly after a moment's thought. "I've only got six siblings."

Jess gave her a withering look. "Wow," she deadpanned. "You're so deprived, Max."

"Well, what about the rest of your unit?" Max asked. "I mean, it wasn't just you and Alec."

"Do you really think anyone in my unit was willing to risk being put through reindoctrination again?" Jess shook her head. "They separated us from the rest of the platoons, threw us into PsyOps for six fucking months. By the time we came out, we were all perfect little automatons… for a while. Some regressed more than others."

"You and Alec?"

"Lane was actually the first. They tried to take Jewel away and he beat a guard into a coma. They took him to PsyOps again and when they brought him back, he wasn't anything like he used to be. Alec and me, we started pretending after that. I don't think we ever really stopped."

Max shifted uncomfortably. She remembered what reindoctrination had been like – nothing short of a living hell. Three months of relentless brainwashing, tests and punishment. The idea of going through it at the age of nine made her shiver. And for one of those kids to go through it twice…

"Which one was Lane?" Max asked carefully.

"X5-600," Jess replied without looking up.

Zack's twin. Max bit her lip. Somehow, she wasn't surprised by that.

"So that's what you do all the time?" Max wondered quietly. "You just pretend?"

"People don't like the truth," Jess shrugged as she finished tying off the splint. "It doesn't fix anything."

Max frowned slightly, not sure what to say to something like that. Most of her life had been shrouded in lies. For ten years she'd pretended to be a normal girl, hiding her barcode and flying under the radar. She knew from experience that the truth usually hurt but it was also, occasionally, necessary.

Max looked up just as a trickle of dirt floated free of the ceiling.

"Do you hear that?"

"What?" Jess followed Max's line of sight.

"Voices…"

**Meanwhile…**

"Max!"

As Alec carefully negotiated the half-collapsed tunnel, he couldn't stop a shiver of apprehension from snaking its way down his spine. He was really trying hard to _not_ picture Max, Jess and Joshua dead or injured too severely to respond.

"Jessie!" he tried again. "Josh!"

There'd been no response for so long that he thought he might have been imagining it when he heard a female voice call his name. But no… there it was again.

"Alec?"

His eyes widened. "Maxie?!"

"Alec!" Max shouted angrily. "You get your sorry ass in gear and get us out _right now_!"

Alec grinned in sheer relief. He'd never been so happy to be harangued in his entire life.

"Just hang on, Maxie. We'll have you out soon," he replied loudly as he and the others reached the blockage. "Are Josh and Jess in there with you?"

"I'm here, baby brother," Jess called out, "but Josh is hurt."

"How bad?" Rand asked quickly, taking stock of the situation.

"I think he's got a punctured lung," Max informed them crisply. "We've gotta get him out of here."

"All right, we've got Sari with us, so she's gonna take over while we dig you out," Alec decided, glancing up at the medic. She obediently moved closer.

"What are his symptoms?" Sari asked and Max began explaining what she'd gleaned of his injuries. In the meantime, Alec and Rand rejoined Wolf and the others in trying to shift the obstruction without bringing down any more of the structure on top of their heads. It was slow going, punctuating by the sound of Sari's voice as she gave Max and Jess advice about Joshua.

Inch by painstaking inch, the transgenics managed to clear a path until the opening was large enough for Alec to slip through. Max was pacing back and forth beside Joshua with her hands on her hips and a furious expression on her face. She heard some of the rocks skitter across the floor and looked up.

"Are you all right?" was the first thing that came out of his mouth as he strode over to her, running his eyes over her. His first impulse was to kiss her but she was dusty and dirty and if looks could kill, he'd have died on the spot.

Despite all of that, s was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

"Don't you _ever_ demolish a base while I'm inside it _ever_ again!" Max raged, shoving him in the chest hard enough to make him grunt in pain, winded by the impact.

"Hello, Max," Alec deadpanned, grimacing as he straightened up again and repeated the question. "Are you okay? You and the baby?"

"Yeah, we're fine apart from having a couple of fucking tonnes of rock and dirt cave in on top of us!" Max snapped, gesturing wildly. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Can we save that for later?" he asked, doing his best to sound reasonable. "Jessie?" he called out, catching her attention. She glanced over at him from where she was sitting beside Joshua, her blue-green eyes locking onto his concerned gaze. "Are you okay?"

She merely nodded, giving him a ghost of a smile.

"She's all right," Max assured him. "I don't think that girl knows how to die."

Alec almost smiled at that statement, mainly because he half-suspected it was true. Knowing when to quit had never been Jess' strong point. Any response Alec might have made was forestalled as Wolf and the others finally broke through. Predictably, Rand led the charge.

"Check on Joshua," was Max's first order.

"I've got him now," Sari assured them as she and two transhumans hastened to the dog-man's side and started inspecting him. "Support his head, guys, and keep him laid out flat."

Max exhaled in a rush and all the anger seemed to drain out of her only to be replaced by determination. "We don't have time to stand around here. We have to get back to the city _now_."

"You're not going anywhere until I've taken a look at you," Sari corrected her, looking up from Joshua's wounds. "And I'll ground you if I have to - medic's prerogative."

Max glared mutinously at Sari but the medic didn't back down.

"We're fine," Max insisted. "I'd know if something was wrong."

"If she tries to leave without medical clearance, restrain her," Sari ordered sternly, looking pointedly at Alec. Max just shook her head and moved away, folding her arms across her chest.

"Max, it won't hurt to have a second opinion," Alec cautioned her. "Come on, just take a few minutes to let Sari do her thing and we can get back to Seattle."

"All right," Max snapped in exasperation, "but she's not going to find anything and while we're standing around, Boyd's the only one left to keep Brax under wraps."

Alec's face fell. "You found Brax?"

Max's teeth tugged at her lower lip. "He killed Ember and Hyde."

"She's dead?" Alec breathed, his guts twisting at the thought.

Max nodded. "She's dead."

Alec gritted his teeth. "Does Jett know?"

"He was with us when we found her," Max replied. "Boyd found Brax after. They took him back to the Sector Three safehouse. Jett doesn't know yet."

"Brax… is he…?"

"Lydecker was on the level," Max told him, a hint of sadness creeping into her tone. "He's not Brax anymore."

Alec bowed his head for a moment, cursing under his breath.

"All right, you two," Sari declared as she made her way over to Max. "Let's have a look."

The brunette sighed but didn't argue as the medic crouched down beside her and closed her eyes.

Only the transhumans could hear the sounds Sari was emitting, the ultrasonic hum she was using to examine Max and her child. It was one of the few traits the medically-optimized transgenics shared with the X7s – a form of echolocation or biosonar that allowed her to 'see' inside the bodies of her patients. She, Cody and all the others like them were walking ultrasound machines.

After a minute or so of tense silence, Sari blinked and gave Alec and Max a reassuring smile.

"You're both fine," she declared. "No sign of foetal trauma."

"Good." Alec breathed a sigh of relief.

"I told you that," Max reminded her.

"And now that I've verified it, you can go," Sari replied simply as Max got to her feet.

"What about Joshua?" Alec asked anxiously.

"He's stable," Sari told him. "You did a good job, Max. He's patched up enough to get him back to base without too much trouble. I can finish the job there."

"What are his odds?" Max asked, shifting nervously.

"Look, I can't make any promises. You know that," Sari reminded them, "but I'm pretty sure he'll be all right."

"Thanks, Sari," Alec said as he drew in a deep breath.

"Oh, and I gave Jess a once-over too. I'm taking her off active-duty for the next forty-eight hours."

"Why?" Alec asked in consternation. "What's wrong?"

"Just a precaution," Sari told him calmly. "Now get your asses back to Seattle. We'll take care of the rest."


	26. Hell Hath No Fury

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N:** I feel I need to clear something up – Jess is _not_ pregnant and I never intended for it to come across that way. Her heart stopped for seven minutes. No medic is going to put a soldier back on active duty after something like that without making sure they get some time to recuperate.

**Chapter 26: Hell Hath No Fury**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Shaine hurtled down the stairs into the basement, her long dark hair flying out behind her. Boyd was hot on her heels, trying vainly to convince her to stop and think for a second.

"Shaine, wait!" Boyd pleaded with her. "You don't want to see him like this. He's not safe. Trust me."

"I don't care if he's breathing fire!" Shaine snarled as she rounded on Boyd so abruptly that he barely avoided slamming into her. He actually back-pedalled as she advanced on him. "I'm going in there!"

"Christ…" Boyd muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face as she stalked away from him.

The word 'bad' didn't even begin to cover the brunette's reaction to the news that her mate hadn't been killed as they all believed. His head was still pounding from being thrown up against the wall. She'd damn near strangled him when she'd realized he was trying to soften the blow and had only let him go when he'd finally relented and told her the entire, grisly truth about Brax's captivity.

He'd almost forgotten how painful Shaine's left hook could be.

He followed as she moved around the corner and stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the two X5s who were busy welding steel reinforcements onto the door that stood between her and Brax.

"Get out of my way," Shaine growled as she shoved her way past them, heedless of their attempts to avoid burning her with their blowtorches and the red-hot metal they'd been handling.

Sway looked up from where she was hunkered down a few feet away from her charge, pistol in hand, and slowly stood up. Shaine's blazing brown eyes didn't waver as the PsyOps female discreetly backed up a few paces.

"He's still out cold," Sway said diplomatically.

Shaine simply nodded her head in the direction of the door. Sway glanced down at Brax one more time and acquiesced.

"We'll be right outside if you need us," she murmured as the welders followed her lead and retreated. "Don't forget what he is now."

Shaine watched them like a hawk until they were all out of sight and then finally turned her attention to the ruin of an X5 lying sprawled out on the floor. The fury drained out of her features as she slowly crouched down beside him and reached out a shaking hand to brush a lock of oily, matted hair out of his face.

The moment she touched him, she snatched her hand back, biting her lip to stop it from trembling as badly as the rest of her.

He was real. Brax was alive and it hadn't all been a horrific prank or an outrageous lie.

He just lay there, looking deceptively frail and bathed in the blood of the Familiars he'd killed – bathed in Ember's blood. His once immaculately tidy hair had grown into a filthy tangle and his ribs showed clearly through his dirt-encrusted skin.

They'd left him… abandoned him. _She'd_ abandoned him, leaving him to the mercy of those cult lunatics. Of all the people in the world, he should have been able to count on her, to know that she'd come for him. Instead, she'd failed him.

How long had he waited before realizing that no-one was going to save him? That she, his mate of all people, wasn't going to help him? How much pain had it taken to bring him to his knees and finally break him?

Shaine carefully lowered herself down onto the cool cement floor and lay down beside him, facing him in silence, willing him to open his eyes and smile at her the way he used to. Minutes ticked by and she reached out again, tracing the line of his jaw with gentle fingers as tears rolled over her nose and down her cheek.

"Brax?" she pleaded. "Open your eyes… it's me. It's Shaine."

He didn't move. He didn't so much as twitch.

"Brax?" she tried again, her voice a mere thread of sound. "Are you in there somewhere?"

Nothing.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered brokenly. "God, I'm so sorry, baby…"

**Outside Seattle**

The drive back to Seattle on Max's Ninja was long, silent and fraught with tension. Riding pillion with his arms around Max's waist, Alec had tried several times to talk to Max only to get an elbow in the ribs for his trouble.

It seemed that X5-452 was in no mood to hash out their issues. She was giving him the cold shoulder and this time he really couldn't blame her. After all, if their roles had been reversed, he'd have been pretty pissed off too.

He wasn't feeling so hot anyway. In one night, he'd found out he was going to be a father, that Brax had been tortured to his breaking point and had killed Ember and to top it all off, he'd come a hairsbreadth from killing not only the woman he considered his mate but also his sister and one of his best friends.

As far as disastrous nights went, this one topped the list but for some reason his mind kept returning to that corridor and the two Familiars he'd killed there.

Alec had always prided himself on his ability to smile through anything. Losing control was not something that came easily to him yet in that moment, he'd simply stepped back and let the animal take over.

It made him wonder how long he could have held out against torture if he'd been in Brax's position. Brax had always been the one who kept his head in a crisis, who stayed calm no matter what. What had it taken to bring the animal to the surface, to tap into the genetic legacy of their predatory ancestors? If he, Alec, could let the animal out of its cage like that after one bad night, how had Brax held on for two months against that kind of abuse?

_No-one can resist torture indefinitely_, Lydecker had once instructed them. _Not even you_.

Had Lydecker even cared? Had it bothered him to watch the Familiars break Brax down, piece by piece? Or had he simply observed the process with the same grim, clinical calm that had been his hallmark back at Manticore?

Part of him was reluctant to see Brax. Seeing what the Familiars had reduced him to made it real. It meant he'd bought his own play from Ames White and deserted a comrade – something Brax would never have done.

Never leave a man behind. Never abandon your unit. Max had once said the latter was the only good thing Manticore had ever taught them and he wholeheartedly agreed. They'd broken that rule – unwitting though it may have been – and now they were all paying the price.

Ember was dead, murdered by a man she'd once looked upon as a trusted friend. Her son would never know his mother. Even with transgenic recall, he was too young to have formed any coherent memories of her that he would retain into adulthood. Both of his biological parents were dead. The twisted and vindictive Cain had met his end at the mercy of his breeding partner after all but skinning Jett alive. Now Jett, Ember's mate, was the only family that Bo had left.

Was violence and pain the only legacy that Bo's parents had left to him?

Was that the legacy that he and Max would leave to their child?

Gritting his teeth, Alec reached around Max and seized the handlebars, pulling the motorcycle hard to the right. He ignored Max's angry yelp of alarm as the back wheel skidded around two-hundred-and-seventy-degrees and she slammed on the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a screeching halt.

"What the hell are you doing?" Max shouted furiously as Alec dismounted, dragging her with him. She barely got the kickstand down in time to stop her baby from toppling over.

"We're settling this right here, right now," he told her, not bothering to mask his frustration.

""We don't have time for -" Max protested.

"We're _making_ time for this," Alec corrected her. "Rand can handle things for a few more minutes. We're no good to anybody when we're fighting each other."

"And your solution is to try to crash my motorcycle with me on it?" Max challenged him.

"Max, I'm sorry about the base." Alec ignored her sarcasm and charged ahead, determined to make her listen. "I would _never_ have pulled the trigger if I'd known you were inside. You know that."

"Yeah, well, I _was_ inside and you _did_," Max snapped as she started pacing on the side of the road. "God, Alec, Joshua was almost killed! The only reason I walked out of there with a couple of scratches is because he shielded me when the roof collapsed and Jess's heart actually _stopped_. She was _dead_. Is any of this sinking in?"

Alec swallowed hard as that new information sank in. "She died?" he whispered, his mind's eye helpfully supplying a barrage of sickening images.

"Not for long," Max growled, refusing to look at him as she continued pacing. "You're lucky. Believe me; you don't want to know how it feels to lose a sibling."

Alec had no answer for that. She was right and he knew it. She'd told him about her brothers and sisters the same night she'd confessed to killing Ben. She'd had eleven siblings and she'd lost far too many. He had one and the closest he'd come to losing Jess was when she'd been reassigned to Quantico. That had been bad enough, not knowing where she was or if she was okay. He'd always had a big sister, even if she wasn't around.

Now Max was telling him that after surviving seventeen years at Manticore and four years at Quantico, Jess had actually been killed… by him. And Joshua, the gentlest of giants, had been willing to give his life to save Max and their baby.

That hit him like a punch to the gut. Back at the base, he'd been running on adrenaline, his fear for Max, Jess and Joshua tempered by a purpose – to find them and get them out. Now that was over and the enormity of what had occurred began to eat away at him.

Jess dead. Joshua dying. Max alone and trying to salvage something – _anything_ – from the situation.

"Thank you," he finally told her quietly. "For saving Jessie."

Max looked up and, seeing the look on his face, seemed to soften for a moment. "You're welcome." She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.

"Are you really all right?" he asked carefully. He knew that Max hated being coddled.

"No." She surprised him by replying honestly. "No, this entire night has pretty much sucked."

"No argument from me," Alec agreed with a sigh. He raked a hand through his dark blonde hair, messing it up a bit. "This is pretty bad, even by our standards."

"You're not off the hook for this, you know," she pointed out, fixing him with a stern look.

"You gonna spank me, Max?" Alec couldn't resist joking a bit to ease the tension and was rewarded when Max rolled her eyes dramatically. She folded her arms across her chest, trying to glare at him but it just didn't have the same effect when her lips were twitching in amusement.

"Don't tempt me," she told him and watched as his trademark smirk re-appeared for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. She hated admitting it because it seemed like a weakness but when she'd heard his voice while she was still trapped, the first thing she felt was intense relief that he was okay.

Then, naturally, she yelled at him to get her out.

"Listen, Max… about earlier," Alec began, "when I yelled at you after Logan shot his mouth off… you were going to tell me about the baby on your own, weren't you?"

Max looked up in consternation. "Of course I was going to tell you," she confirmed with a hint of anger in her tone. "Why do you think I swung by in the first place? I didn't mean to tell Logan about the baby first. I went over there to end it with him and it just…"

Max hesitated and Alec read between the lines easily enough. He knew what Logan was like, how hard he'd been holding onto his relationship with Max. She'd never been good at emotional confrontations – none of the Manticoreans were. So for her to go over to Logan's house and look him in the eye as she broke his heart must have been horrible for her.

Logan would have argued. He'd have given her reason after reason to stay, to work it out with him and pretend that nothing was wrong. He and Max had once believed that the virus was the sum of their problems but Alec had known better for a while.

It had been in the way Logan looked at the other transgenics – particularly the transhumans. He was polite enough but Alec had never been able to shake the feeling that for all his good intentions, Eyes Only was only in it for Max. If he could have lured her away from her people and their plight with the promise of normality and safety, he would have.

Except that that wasn't _Max_.

Max cared. Despite her origins and upbringing, she was compassionate. A little reckless at times, yeah, but everything she did came from a good place. Hell, she'd saved _his_ ass over and over despite her complaints. Even killing Ben had come from that spark – the part of her that loved her brother enough to do what he asked of her, no matter what it cost her.

Logan had wanted her to walk away, to stop caring for anyone he hadn't designated as worthy. That, more than anything, had been killing Max. Logan had taught her to open up but he'd tried to limit who she opened up to. It had made Alec wonder who Logan thought he was dealing with. He was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and it had only been a matter of time before Max started to realize it too.

"Max…" Alec chewed his lip softly before continuing. "When we were fighting, you said that you broke up with Logan for me."

Max stiffened, her brown eyes wary as she waited for him to go on.

"Did you mean that?"

Max looked up into his green-gold eyes, her sense of self-preservation screaming at her to back up and laugh it off. Then again… if the reluctantly vulnerable look on his face was any indication, he wasn't any better at this than she was. The seconds ticked by and she saw the first hint of his patented 'always all right' expression reappear.

It was now or never.

She nodded silently, not game to actually verbalize her answer. His eyes softened and he smiled a little. Max relaxed slightly, doing her best to appear nonchalant as he nodded in return.

"Good," he said quietly and he moved closer, so that he was gazing down at her beautiful, dirt-smudged face. "That's good."

"Yeah," Max whispered, feeling his warm breath feathering along her skin as he leaned in. "Good."

Max's eyes drifted closed as his lips touched hers, caressing slowly but surely in a kiss that warmed her right to her toes. One hand slid down to the small of her back, moulding her to him while the other drifted across her cheek. She sunk into it, enjoying the taste of him for the first time in eight weeks.

She'd kick his ass later.

The sound of vehicles drawing closer made Max's eyes snap open and Alec released her just as the rescue vans flashed by. She felt heat flood her cheeks as Wolf stuck his head out of the window.

"_About damn time!_"

Max and Alec exchanged a look. His green-gold eyes were dancing with humour and her own amusement fought with mortification and won. Somehow, at that moment, she couldn't bring herself to be negative about getting what she wanted.

"Come on," Alec urged her with a grin. "We'd better get going."

**Sector Nine, Safehouse Five**

Kestrel stood in the doorway of Cleo's room, pursing her lips as she prepared to try to rouse Jett. He was still sitting beside the cot, his head leaning against one slat while his hand gripped another hard enough to crack the wood. Bo was burbling and cooing, trying to get his father's attention to no avail. Jett was just staring down at Bo's blanket, his mind a million miles away.

"Jett." Kestrel moved toward him slowly, speaking quietly, unwilling to startle the grieving X5. "Jett, it's Kes." She put a hand on his shoulder and felt his muscles go rigid at her touch. "Come on, we should get you cleaned up."

He shook his head.

"Jett, you can't hold Bo like this," she told him gently, meaning the dried blood staining his hands and clothes. "You want to hold him, don't you?"

For a long moment, there was no response. Then he nodded ever so slightly, his hair falling in front of his eyes.

"Come on," she urged him softly, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Get up."

He was just starting to shift when Kestrel's cell phone rang, vibrating in her pocket.

"Shit…" she breathed as she fished it out and glanced at the screen. It was Boyd's number. Frowning a little, Kestrel looked Jett squarely in the eyes. "I'll be right back, okay?"

He nodded mutely as she went into the other room and pressed the button to accept the call. "What?" she huffed impatiently.

"_Is Jett there with you?_" Boyd asked without preamble.

"Of course he's here. He's with Bo. Why?" Kestrel asked.

"_Are you alone_?"

Kestrel blinked, her brow furrowing as she retreated to her bathroom, which was as far as she could get from the babies' room. Meanwhile, Jett slowly looked up from where he was sitting on the floor, his sensitive hearing picking up the conversation.

"All right, what the hell's going on?" Kestrel asked in a hushed tone once she'd closed the door behind her.

"_I need you to keep an eye on him_," Boyd informed her.

"Like you needed to ask," Kestrel admonished him. "What happened? Is all that blood Ember's?"

"_Brax is alive, feral and he killed Ember and Hyde_," Boyd told her flat-out. "_We're holding him in Sector Three. We need you to stay with Jett until we've secured Brax_."

Kestrel sat down on the side of the bathtub and blinked. It was as if she was stuck on pause.

"_You know what Jett's like, Kes_," Boyd continued grimly. "_If he finds out about this before it's properly contained, he's going to go off the reservation_. _We can't afford to have him go off half-cocked_."

"Does Shaine know?"

"_She's with Brax now_," Boyd replied. "_Look, I've gotta go but I figured I'd better give you the heads up. Can you stall him?_"

"I'll try," Kestrel promised. That was all she could realistically offer.

"Thanks." With that, Boyd hung up and Kestrel stared down at the screen for a long moment, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully. She took a moment to absorb it, squashing down a wave of remorse at the thought of the murdered redhead. Then she squared her shoulders and opened the bathroom door.

Jett stood on the other side, his dark eyes diamond-hard. Kestrel instinctively shifted her stance.

"Brax?" he said, making it more of a statement than a question.

"Jett…" Kestrel shook her head, silently cursing transgenic hearing. "I need you to stay here with me."

"Brax killed Ember?" He didn't raise his voice. If anything, if got softer, becoming nothing more than a lethal whisper. Kestrel's hand clenched into a fist at her side. Her brown eyes never left his.

"We don't know anything for sure yet…" It was lame and Kestrel knew it. She saw it reflected in Jett's darkening expression. "Jett, please. Just stay here until we know what's going on."

He turned and stalked towards the door and Kestrel blurred, placing herself between him and the exit.

"Don't even think about it," she snapped, casting sympathy aside in favour of the only thing that was going to get it done – force. "Boyd ordered us to stay here."

She'd known it wouldn't do any good even before she uttered it but it had been worth a try. She dodged the first blow, spinning into a kick that would have swept his legs out from under him if he hadn't jumped and come down hard from her right, his elbow connecting with her head. She staggered, her head spinning, and Jett was gone before she could stop him.

She leaned against the wall, growling against the pain in her skull, as she managed to dig her phone out of her pocket again.

"Fuck."


	27. A Call To Arms

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**A/N: **HUGE apologies. I promised to update weekly and fell at the first hurdle. I'm so, so, _so_ sorry… and HAPPY EASTER!

**Chapter 27: A Call To Arms**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Shaine sniffed and tried to pull herself together, wiping at her eyes as she slapped a palm down on the floor and pushed herself upright. Brax still hadn't stirred – his system seemed to be having trouble metabolising the sedatives. She figured that he must have been running on adrenaline to get as far as he did without collapsing. He was a mess of blood, sweat and filth, his injuries swathed in field bandages that were already soaked through.

The scent alone was making her queasy.

"Boyd!" she bit out, knowing damn well that both he and Sway were hovering outside the door, waiting for Brax to wake up and tear her to pieces. The thought made her want to tear _them_ to pieces instead.

"What's wrong?" the male replied, opening the door.

"All right, get me some clean clothes, warm water and the first aid kit," she told him. "I want to clean him up."

"Shaine –"

"_Don't_ argue with me," Shaine warned him. Boyd gave her an exasperated look.

"So you just want us to stand out here while you're sewing him back together?" he demanded. "What if he decides to wake up while you're playing nurse?"

"I'll handle it," Shaine snapped, "but I'm not leaving him like that."

"Shaine, you're four months pregnant –"

"Then I guess you'd better hurry," she decided, folding her arms as she stared Boyd down despite the fact that she was sitting on the floor while he was towering over her, her expression one of grim determination.

Boyd knew Shaine well enough to realize that she wasn't going to be reasonable. With a muffled curse, he turned and stalked away to gather the items she'd requested. Sway watched him walk away and shook her head at Shaine.

"You haven't listened to a word we've said, have you?" Sway asked with a sigh.

"I heard you," Shaine said flatly. "We let White torture him until he snapped and now he's feral and a murderer. What do you want me to do, Sway? Walk away? I can't do that. I won't."

"He's not Brax any more," Sway persisted, though she softened her tone. "He's an animal."

"And whose fault is that?" Shaine shot back. "Huh? We _left_ him there, Sway. We let them do this to him."

"We didn't let them do anything –"

"Oh yeah?" Shaine scoffed angrily. "Did we look for a body? Did we question White when he said that Brax was dead? No! No, we just believed him and got on with our pathetic little lives while they spent two months breaking my mate!"

Sway fell silent, knowing there was nothing short of tele-coercion that would convince Shaine to back off… and that making the brunette forget was not going to solve any of their immediate problems. All she could do was stay on hand to try to control the feral X5 when he regained consciousness. Not that he was a significant threat in his current condition – he appeared to have lost a good deal of blood in his attack on Ember and Hyde. Bullet wounds, lacerations…

Her paramount concern was keeping Shaine and her baby out of harm's way as much as she could. She doubted that Brax would recognize Shaine and if he felt threatened, he'd undoubtedly lash out. Knowing Shaine, the stubborn female would be close by and an easy target.

Though Sway had never been a believer in maternal instinct, she could have wished that Shaine would demonstrate a bit more of it. There'd been too many deaths in one night as it was without adding a pregnant female to the list.

"Shaine, we just don't want you to get hurt," Sway pointed out quietly.

"Well, it's a bit late for that, isn't it?" Shaine replied through clenched teeth.

"What exactly is it that you think you can do for him?" Sway asked carefully as Shaine moved back a few paces so that she could see Brax through the doorway. "I've worked in PsyOps my whole life. The chances of him coming back from this are beyond minimal… and even if he did somehow overcome it, he'd never be the same."

"I don't care."

"You have to think this through," Sway urged her. "He's been killing people. He killed Ember and Hyde. He's a danger to you and anyone else he comes in contact with."

"I know all this," Shaine hissed.

"Then why won't you listen?" Sway asked with an edge of desperation.

Shaine turned hardened brown eyes on the psionic transgenic. "No-one's going to hurt him. Not ever again."

"Even if it'd be kinder to end it? Do you really think the Brax you knew would have wanted to live like this?"

Sway knew it was cruel but the question had to be asked. In response, Shaine advanced on Sway until she was mere inches away, staring menacingly into the psionic's eyes.

"If anyone so much as looks at him wrong," Shaine whispered harshly, her dark eyes glittering with murderous intent, "I'll kill them. Is that in any way unclear?"

"Sadly no," Sway replied grudgingly, resisting the urge to slap some sense into the other female.

To a certain extent, she could understand Shaine's feelings on the subject. She hadn't spent twenty years in PsyOps without learning a thing or two about what made people tick. What she couldn't understand was Shaine's blatant disregard for the danger Brax posed to her and the child she was carrying.

Sway was beginning to reconsider her stance on not forcing the stubborn brunette to co-operate when Boyd returned, looking fit to kill as he practically threw the requested supplies at Shaine.

"What's your problem now?" Shaine demanded.

"Kestrel called me back. Jett knows."

**Outside Seattle**

Max blazed a trail along the road, the rumble of her motorcycle's engine the only sound that could be heard in the lead up to sunrise.

Alec's arms were wrapped around her waist and for the first time in a long time, Max was actually feeling rather happy. Which was stupid, considering the mess that awaited them back in Sector Three, but she'd take what she could get. She and Alec had reached an understanding of sorts and they could hash out the finer details once the current crisis had been resolved.

Still… the ride was giving her the opportunity to contemplate the reality she was now being faced with.

She – Max Guevara, Queen of Denial – was actually on the verge of creating a family. She used the term tentatively, of course. She had no idea how Alec felt about that idea. So far, all she knew was that he wanted her and was up for helping with their baby. Which, she supposed, counted as oblique approval of the whole 'family plan' that she was really trying to shove into the back of her mind where it couldn't grow to ridiculous proportions before they'd had a chance to figure things out.

Alec had always been hard to pin down. They were the same in that respect.

The idea of family was alternately comforting and terrifying to Max. Sure, she'd had her brothers and sisters back at Manticore but she'd been born into that family. They'd been the one constant in her nightmare of a childhood. Her relationship with Alec was different. She held half of the responsibility for making it work.

_Like I did with Logan? _

That thought snaked its way into her ruminations and refused to leave. She couldn't deny that her relationship with Logan had been a disaster and she was glad that it was over. Would that happen to her and Alec?

_Stop thinking about that_, she chided herself. _This thing with Alec is totally different_. _You know that's what Cindy would say_.

"Hey, Maxie, are you okay?" Alec asked from behind her and it was only then that she realized she'd tensed under his grip. She forced herself to relax.

"I'm fine," she replied just as Alec's cell phone rang. Swearing under his breath, Alec answered the call. "Yeah?"

Max recognized Boyd's voice on the phone but with the motorcycle's engine running, it was hard to make out precisely what he was saying.

"How the hell did Jett find out?" Alec demanded. "And who was the fucking brainiac who told Shaine about Brax without waiting for Rand?"

_You've gotta be fucking kidding me_… Max thought in consternation. She flicked an alarmed look over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Alec's frustrated expression.

"Look, just get as many people as you can together to stop Jett and do _not_ leave Shaine alone with Brax. I don't care if you have to handcuff her to somebody. Got it?" Alec's voice was tinged with a mixture of anger and worry. "And call Rand to let him know what's going on as well." He snapped the phone shut. "Floor it!"

Max did exactly that.

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

Zane woke all at once, roused from slumber by the insistent pounding on Krit and Syl's door. He was just throwing back the blanket his siblings had loaned him when he heard Briar start crying and groaned.

Syl was going to be pissed off.

He answered the door in his boxers, figuring it couldn't hurt to give their visitor fair warning of his or her impending doom, and found himself confronted by an angry-looking X5 male he'd never met before.

"Where are Krit and Syl?" the stranger asked tersely, rudely pushing his way past Zane.

"You better have a damn good reason for waking the kid," Zane warned Boyd, wincing as Syl jerked the bedroom door open in a singlet top and boy-leg underwear. Krit paced behind her in a hastily-donned pair of jeans, jiggling Briar gently in his arms as he tried to soothe her.

"Okay, I have had five hours sleep in the last forty-eight!" the blonde snapped waspishly. "So you have five seconds to explain why you woke Briar up before I kill you."

Zane simply stepped back, crossing his arms across his bare chest as he watched the scene unfold. Boyd strode into the room, surprisingly unintimidated by the angry transgenic mother he'd just infuriated.

"Two of you have to come with me," Boyd ordered. "We've got a rogue X on our hands and we need you on guard duty."

"You're gonna have to be a little more forthcoming or I'm not going anywhere," Syl replied crisply, a mutinous glint in her brown eyes.

Boyd gritted his teeth but obliged her nonetheless. "Jett's mate was killed by a feral X5," Boyd said, his tone more than a little condescending as he spoke to Syl like he would a small child. "He knows we're holding the feral X5 here and he's already gone through Kestrel and two guards in Sector Nine. Most of the soldiers from this safehouse are outside the city with the rest of the COs, so I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. Clear?"

"Ember's dead?" Syl echoed, her anger momentarily forgotten.

"That's what I said."

"Watch how you talk to her," Krit growled softly, emerging from the bedroom as Zane shifted his stance, subtly reminding Boyd of his presence. "If she doesn't kick your ass, I will."

Syl continued to glower at Boyd, silently reinforcing Krit's assertion.

"Just have your asses downstairs in five minutes," Boyd snapped.

"And who, exactly, are you anyway?" Zane drawled lazily, as if the answer really wasn't of any import.

"Boyd. Your commanding officer," the X5 replied, his tone icy.

"Is that so?" Zane shrugged. "I guessed I must have missed the memo."

"If you want to stay, you pull your weight," Boyd told Zane curtly. "Now move."

"Wow, Boyd, why didn't you ever go into motivational speaking?" Syl sneered, folding her arms as she stared the nocturnal model down. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. We'll do our part."

"Good," was Boyd's only response as he stalked out the door, closing it behind him with more force than necessary.

"09er fan?" Zane asked dryly, glancing at his sister.

"How could you tell?" she replied impishly. "I liked Brax better."

"Who was Brax?" Zane asked curiously.

"The CO Boyd replaced," Krit informed him. "Personally, I think Shaine should have got the job but she's pregnant so she's off the roster." He turned to Syl and sighed. "All right, let's see who's on baby duty."

Krit and Syl fisted a hand each and quickly played rock-paper-scissors. Syl ended up with rock while Krit had scissors. Syl grinned and playfully pretended to hit his fingers with her fist.

"Have fun with the munchkin," she told him, "and I'll be expecting breakfast when I get back."

Krit just rolled his eyes, shaking his head as Syl darted back into their bedroom to dress. Zane just shrugged and snatched his jeans off the floor, stepping into them as Krit helpfully tossed his shirt at his head.

"Is that guy always like that?" Zane queried Krit, who made a face and nodded.

"The only 09er he's nice to is Max and that's mainly because she's running this outfit," Krit explained. "The three of us are crashing the party as far as he's concerned."

"Well, some of us had other things to deal with," Zane muttered.

"Zack?" Krit wondered and Zane nodded as he sat down and pulled on his boots. "I hear that." He adjusted Briar against his shoulder. "Are you good for weapons?"

"Yeah," Zane replied as he pulled a twelve-inch bowie knife out of his duffle.

"I was thinking of something more along the lines of a pistol or something," Krit pointed out but Zane shook his head.

"I don't do guns," he informed his brother.

"Sounds like you share Maxie's MO," Krit observed. "She doesn't like guns either."

"Yeah, why's that?" Zane asked, looking up at Krit.

"Eva," Krit replied simply, that one word telling Zane everything he needed to know. "What about you?"

"Eva," Zane hedged as he got to his feet, "among other things."

The conversation came to an abrupt halt as Syl re-emerged, throwing her blonde hair up into a functional ponytail. "Are you ready to go?"

"Ladies first," Zane told her, gesturing towards the door.


	28. Tick Tock

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's _so_ not worth it.**

**Chapter 28: Tick Tock**

"_Do you think this is all some kind of joke? That these kids are like puppies you can bring home and housebreak? They were designed to kill. Coldly… efficiently… and happily."_

- Donald Lydecker

**Sector Three, Safehouse Eight**

"So who is this Jett guy anyway?"

Syl glanced across at her brother and chewed her lip softly. "He's X5," she whispered after a moment's thought about what she was going to say. "He hardly ever talks and he's really tight with Alec and Rand. He and Ember are – were – mated."

"Have you seen him fight?" Zane asked quietly, hoping he could get a beat on their adversary before he arrived.

"Nope," Syl said ruefully. "All I know is he's a velocity model like me, so you might wanna let me handle this one. I wouldn't want you to get knocked out in the first five seconds."

"You got lucky," Zane defended himself as Syl laughed softly. "Besides, I was six years old and scrawny as hell. That doesn't count."

"Sure it doesn't, big brother," Syl teased quietly, brown eyes sparkling. "You're right – how could the runt of the litter be expected to win a sparring match?"

"The runt?" Zane echoed incredulously. "Hey, I'm a foot taller than you are."

"You are now," Syl agreed with a small smile. "Back then even Jack was bigger than you were."

"Way to psych a guy up for a fight, baby sister," Zane sighed, shaking his head at her. "No wonder Krit decided to stay home."

Syl stuck her tongue out at him, eliciting a chuckle from her brother. She peered through the window out into the darkness and sighed.

"Jett should have been here by now," she mused quietly, fingering the pistol that rested against her hip.

"Then maybe you should stop reminiscing about the good old days and start concentrating on what's out there," Zane suggested, a hint of amusement in his expression as Syl crossed her eyes at him.

"It's called multi-tasking, Zane," she chided him. "You should try it sometime."

"Some tasks are more appealing than others," Zane observed.

"Juggling more than one girl at a time doesn't count, wise ass."

"Together or separately?" Zane grinned and Syl elbowed him in the ribs, giving him a quelling look as they finally caught sight of a tall figure striding confidently towards the building. He wasn't even trying to conceal his approach.

Zane and Syl exchanged a wary look as they moved silently to flank the entrance. They stilled, even slowing their breathing. The handle began to turn and Syl signalled silently to Zane, who nodded ever so slightly in response.

The door swung open and the X5 stepped inside. Zane caught the confused look on Syl's face and hesitated as the newcomer turned and looked directly at him, a wolfish smile on his face. That split-second was more than enough for Zane's brain to evaluate his opponent and realize that this male was not the expected velocity model.

He was staring at a combat model like himself.

"Waiting for me?"

The stranger blurred, striking out at Zane with a right cross at the same time he kicked out behind him, his foot just grazing Syl's midsection as she dodged the blow. Zane caught the X5's fist in mid-air with his right hand and drove his elbow into the side of his opponent's head, kicking out to send him slamming into the opposite wall with enough force to crack the plasterboard.

Syl pistol-whipped him before he had a chance to recover and his eyes rolled back in his head as he slumped onto the floor. She rolled him over onto his stomach with her foot and pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her jacket pocket, binding his wrists behind his back.

"Is it just me or was that way too easy?" Zane asked and Syl nodded.

"That's not Jett," Syl told him, staring down at the unconscious X5 in consternation. "That's Brock."

"Who the hell is Brock?" Zane asked, glancing at his sister as they heard a crash overhead and looked up. "Shit… They're coming in from the roof."

"Decoys. Jett didn't come alone…" Syl breathed. "Oh my God…Krit and Briar are upstairs."

"Krit can handle it," Zane told her firmly. "They'll be fine."

Syl shot him a rebellious glance but Zane grabbed hold of her arm, keeping her with him.

"Do you trust him or not?" he demanded quietly. Syl's brown eyes burned into his and after a long moment she nodded. "Then trust him to know what he's doing. Now go and check the back entrance."

**Meanwhile…**

Fallon watched the scene from across the street with Jett standing silently by her side.

"I give it thirty seconds before they're upstairs hunting my guys and there'll only be one or two guards between you and the basement," she informed him with a hint of satisfaction. "I think you can handle that easily enough."

Jett merely nodded, his dark gaze fixed on the building.

Fallon glanced at him speculatively. "I was surprised you came to me considering who your friends are."

"They don't understand," Jett stated softly.

"No. They wouldn't, would they?" Fallon's lips curved upwards in a humourless smile. "It's easy to protect a murderer when it wasn't your mate that was killed."

The appearance of Jett on her doorstep, covered in Ember's blood, was proving useful. For two months she'd been looking for a way to galvanize her position, to create her own command structure outside of 452 and 494's control. Now here it was, handed to her on a silver platter.

A feral X5 – one that had slaughtered another X5, an X6 and several ordinaries – was being protected rather than punished by the current regime. Most of the transgenics who'd lived their lives at the mercy of Manticore would demand that the feral transgenic be put down – a step that Max and her cohorts would not condone.

Living on the outside had made Max soft and she'd made Alec and Rand soft as well. They were no longer fit to lead. It was kill or be killed and there was no room for broken soldiers. Every one of her supporters understood that. The humans were never going to accept them and weakness could not be tolerated.

And naturally, once the current COs were out of the picture, she would find Jess and break her pretty little neck.

The first echo of gunfire drew the attention of both transgenics and Fallon smirked.

"I said no casualties," Jett said softly, his tone harsh as he turned accusing dark eyes on her.

"They're disabling, not killing," Fallon assured him blithely and gestured towards the entry. "He's all yours."

**The Basement**

Shaine's head snapped up at the sound of gunfire and she swallowed hard. Sway got to her feet, listening intently to what was going on overhead.

"I really think you need to get out of here," the psionic warned softly.

"No," Shaine denied flatly, her hands coated in blood-stained water from where she'd been washing the dried gore from Brax. "If you want to go, then go but I'm not leaving."

"You're going to get yourself killed," Sway growled.

"I can take care of myself," Shaine replied calmly.

"Even against Jett?" Sway challenged her, glancing back over her shoulder. "He's your family, Shaine." Her brow furrowed as Brax stirred slightly, immediately reclaiming his mate's attention.

"Brax?" she said softly, smoothing back his hair so that she could see his face. There was another short burst of gunfire and Brax flinched, tensing under Shaine's touch. "Brax, it's me. It's Shaine. Can you hear me, baby?"

His eyelids fluttered for a moment but then he seemed to slump back onto the floor and gave no other sign of life apart from the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

Sway ground her teeth, praying that Brax wouldn't wake up until it was over but she had a feeling that her hopes were going to be dashed. As long as Brax remained passive, they might have a chance of talking Jett down… or if things got really bad, she could just coerce him into backing off.

She didn't _like_ doing it but she would if she had to.

So Sway waited, hoping that Boyd's recruits wouldn't let them down.

**The Ground Floor**

Zane stood with his back flat against the wall, all his senses focused on his surroundings. Brandy brown eyes scanned the immediately vicinity while his ears listened for any hint of a new intruder.

There was no doubt in his mind that Brock and the others were pawns – meant to distract the skeleton crew guarding the building. He tuned out the commotion overhead, the gunfire and shouts. Even the sound of Briar crying as the noise scared her.

He concentrated only on the ground floor because he knew it was the real target, the entrance to the basement level where the feral X5 was being held. Coming in from the roof was flashy but ultimately foolish because that meant having to sneak past any and all inhabitants of the building.

So he and Syl simply waited at opposite entrances, out of sight.

In the meantime, Fallon took aim through a window from a roof across the street, adjusting her rifle until the crosshairs intersected squarely over Syl's head.

_Fucking 09er_… she thought venomously. She squeezed the trigger just as Syl glanced away. All Zane heard was the glass shattering, a muffled yelp and the crash of a body hitting the ground.

"_Syl!_" Zane shouted, unable to see his sister as she fell, blood seeping through her white-blonde hair onto the floorboards.

Zane was so focused on Syl that he only just caught the whisper of movement behind him in time to duck. He spun on his heel, lashing out with his foot to sweep his opponent's legs out from underneath him. The X5 male leapt over the strike, spinning into a kick that forced Zane to launch himself backwards or take a blow to the head.

Zane tucked his body in as his legs went over his head and he landed in a crouch just as his opponent came at him again. He didn't have time to get to his feet as the other X5 delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of Zane's head that him crashing into a chair that splintered under the impact.

_Okay_, Zane thought as he performed a kip and shook his head to clear the blood that was blurring his vision. _This guy's the velocity model_. A right hook made Zane stagger for a second. _Now that's enough of that shit_.

It had been years since Zane had thrown down with an equal but there were some things you just didn't forget.

He dove back into the fray, the kata moves as natural to him as breathing. He delivered strike after strike, blocking Jett again and again as they struggled to find an opening in each other's defences.

Finally, Zane got through with a punch to Jett's jaw that made the velocity's teeth rattle and took advantage by delivering a spinning back kick that connected with his chest. Jett doubled over, winded, and Zane aimed a blow at the back of Jett's head that should have knocked him out cold.

Except that Jett wasn't there anymore.

Jett had rolled sideways, picking up one of the broken chair legs as he did so and whirled around to turn the tables, the wood connecting with the side of Zane's head with a resounding _crack_.

Zane hit the ground like a falling tree and didn't get up, blood trickling onto the floor from a gaping gash above his ear where the wood had hit him. Jett gazed down at the defeated 09er for a long moment before letting his weapon fall to the ground and moving towards his goal.

It was strange how Jett felt like he was moving in slow motion as he descended the stairs and found his way unerringly to the room where they were holding Brax. The half-welded steel reinforcements on the door were a dead giveaway.

"Jett… take it easy…" Sway cautioned him as he came in, standing between him and the thing that had killed his mate.

Jett stared down at the wreck of a creature on the floor that used to be Brax, at the blood that he knew belonged to Ember, and felt black rage rise up so fast it almost choked him.

It should have been Brax who died in that alley. He shouldn't have been able to overpower both Ember and Hyde. He should have… Jett squared his shoulders, casting such thoughts aside as he steeled himself to do what was necessary.

He took one step towards his target and stilled as he felt the muzzle of a gun press against the back of his head. He heard the distinctive click as the hammer dropped and took a deep breath as he realized who had stepped out from behind the door with her finger on the trigger.

"Get the hell away from him," Shaine growled softly.


	29. Dead Man Walking

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Okay, HUGE apologies that it's taken me so long to update. There's no excuse for it. I've also updated Three Parts Dead. If anyone's interested, my LJ usually has updates on my progress with chapters if I'm stuck or whatever, so feel free to drop me a line (Yep, that's you lakergirl08!) or a threat (cough Sonam cough) and bug me until I post! I'm serious – it really helps! The link is in my profile.

**Chapter 29: Dead Man Walking**

**The Basement**

"You're protecting that thing?" Jett asked, his voice nothing more than a hard-edged whisper.

"That _thing_," Shaine replied, enunciating each world slowly and clearly, "is my mate and he has a name, remember?"

"Not anymore," Jett told her, not flinching away from the feel of the cool steel against the back of his skull. "He stopped being your mate when he killed mine."

"I know about Ember," Shaine said softly, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice. "I'm sorry."

"Don't talk to me about sorry," Jett growled.

"It won't bring her back, Jett."

Jett didn't reply and Sway pleadingly shook her head at him, seeing the grimly determined set of his features.

"You know you're gonna have to go through me," Shaine cautioned him.

"I know," Jett stated flatly, blurring just as the gun fired, the bullet whizzing past his ear as he rushed Sway, throwing her into the wall before he turned on Shaine, dodging bullets all the while.

**Across The Street From The Safehouse**

The sound of vehicles approaching at high speed alerted Fallon. A smug smile curved her mouth as she followed the sound and zoomed in, watching the motorcycle and its riders getting closer by the second.

She spoke into the radio, unable to keep a note of satisfaction out of her voice.

"Reinforcements just arrived. ETA ten seconds. I need them alive. Repeat – I need them _alive_," Fallon warned her people. "Fire at will.'

**Outside the Safehouse**

A black Ninja roared towards the building with the van a few seconds behind it only to be greeted by a hail of gunfire from the other side of the street. The back tire blew out and Max and Alec tried to leap clear as the motorcycle slammed onto the ground, sending sparks flying as it skidded across the bitumen. They scrambled to their feet, diving for cover behind the van that had screeched to a halt a few feet away.

Alec caught sight of the blood staining Max's arm and swore under his breath.

"It's just a flesh wound. I'm good," Max told him quickly, tearing yet another strip from her already shredded shirt to staunch the bleeding. "Here, tie it off."

"What the fuck's going on?" Alec demanded, trying to peer around the corner of the van only to dart backwards as another volley was fired. "Jesus…" The ammunition struck the van and it wasn't the first time he'd been grateful that the vehicle they'd stolen from Ames White's Phalanx was bullet-proof.

"Do you think it's Jett?" Max spoke up, gritting her teeth against the pain lancing through her arm.

"More than one shooter," Alec replied, shaking his head as he reached around to pull his gun out from under his jacket. "And they missed."

"So it's Ordinaries who can't shoot straight or transgenics who aren't shooting to kill," Max surmised as they heard the guns firing a third time. "Either way, we can't stay here. We've gotta make a break for it."

"Agreed," Alec replied crisply as he checked the magazine and locked it back into place. He pounded his fist against the side of the van. "Rand! We're going in! You hear me?"

"Got it!" was the muffled response from inside the truck. "Go! We'll cover you!"

The doors to the back of the van burst open and transgenics took off in both directions, half blurring towards the safehouse and the rest heading towards the other side of the street to disable the snipers. Max and Alec didn't hesitate, sprinting towards the doors as more bullets whizzed over their heads.

The problem was the door. Max threw he weight against it only to discover something was blocking it and it took a frantic shove, using all of her enhanced strength, to force it open while Alec returned fire. As soon as there was sufficient space, they squeezed inside and slammed it behind them.

The weight behind the door turned out to be an unconscious, handcuffed Brock.

"What the hell…?" she wondered out loud as she grabbed one of his legs with her good arm and hauled him out of the way. "He's not stationed here."

Alec glanced speculatively up at the ceiling. He could hear the distinctive sounds of combat and yet more gunfire. "Max, listen."

"Shit…" she breathed.

"If Jett already took him out, why would he go upstairs?" Alec replied as he flattened himself against a wall. "He knows the only place we could safely secure Brax is the basement."

The door was flung opened a second time and Max whirled, arm cocked to throw a punch as Rand and Wolf skidded indoors. The guns had finally fallen silent.

"Whoa! Easy!" Rand yelped as he backed up a step. Fortunately, Max had stopped before she'd actually hit him. "The others went around the back."

"Upstairs must be a decoy. You guys go ahead and make sure Brax is still breathing," Max told them, glancing at Rand. "I'll take care of things up here."

"Max, you're hurt –" Alec began but she just gave him a quelling look.

"No protective macho crap," she warned him. "Get going."

The two males didn't need to be told again. Alec deposited his gun into the waistband of his jeans and they jogged towards the basement, making no sound as they moved and disappeared down the stairs.

"Clear! 205's down," Jag called out from a few rooms away, checking the prone X5. "Blow to the head. Pulse is steady."

"Zane…" Max muttered to herself as the others began clearing the rest of the floor. She approached the back of the building, listening for any sign that she wasn't alone. "Secure all the exits!" she barked.

When she finally rounded the corner, her face fell as she took in the sight laid out before her.

"Syl!" Max skidded to a halt beside her fallen sister, taking in the ever-expanding pool of blood around her head. She quickly found the source – a long, disturbingly smooth furrow across the back of the head – and tore another strip of fabric off her shirt to staunch the flow. The only thing keeping her decent by then was her jacket.

It didn't take a genius, especially with the circular hole in the window pane, to figure out what had happened.

"Okay, stay with me, baby sister. One kid already lost his mother tonight."

"How sweet," a mocking female voice taunted from behind. Max's gaze snapped over her shoulder to find Fallon standing there, looking far too smug for Max's liking. Her long black hair was pulled back in a severe braid and she held herself with the studied calm of someone who knew something Max didn't.

Max's first impulse was to punch the bitch's lights out… but she didn't. She straightened up so she could look Fallon in the face and didn't even blink as Fallon levelled a pistol at her, aiming directly between her eyes.

"Order your men to stand down," Fallon said calmly.

"Not gonna happen," Max replied coolly, holding Fallon's gaze steadily.

Without missing a beat, Fallon lowered the weapon until it was pointing directly at her abdomen and Max's heart skipped a beat. Satisfied that she'd made her point, Fallon's finger began to slowly squeeze the trigger.

"Call them back. _Now_."

**The Basement**

Alec and Rand glanced at each other, signalling silently as they crept down the stairs, quickly throwing together a plan of attack. They proceeded swiftly down the corridor, stopping far enough back that they could get a glimpse of what was going on in the room without being spotted themselves.

Not that it mattered. The combatants were solely focused on each other and Sway was unconscious.

Jett managed to throw Shaine down and Rand started forward but Alec grabbed hold of his arm, holding him back with a mute shake of his head.

Despite his determination to put Brax down for good, Jett was fighting fair – well, as fair as could be expected. He could have taken the easy shot – a kick or punch to Shaine's stomach would have ended the confrontation in a heartbeat – but instead the two velocity models were brawling, exchanging blows that would have left a human unconscious or near death. Jett swiped blood out of his eyes to clear his vision as Shaine spat out a mouthful of the same liquid at his face and landed a vicious punch to her opponent's jaw that sent Jett reeling backwards.

Alec began signalling again. The message was simple.

_I'll take Jett. You take Shaine_.

Rand nodded as Alec counted off the seconds with his fingers. Three, two, one… The two X5s moved in unison, blurring into the room at top speed. Jett and Shaine never saw it coming.

Alec tackled Jett, sending him sprawling onto the floor on his stomach and giving the stealth plenty of opportunity to twist both of his arms up behind his back and lock his wrists. Alec's knee was pressing down on the small of Jett's back, his weight keeping him pinned and ensuring Jett couldn't get enough leverage to fight back. It didn't stop him from trying to get free though, snarling in his rage.

Rand had Shaine in a similar position against the wall, one arm twisted up behind her back and the other laid flat against the wall, her wrist trapped in his grasp.

"He's going to kill him!" Shaine protested, struggling against Rand's grip.

"Nobody's killing anybody," Alec ordered sharply.

"Shaine, stop," Rand commanded when she continued to thrash about.

"Not a chance in hell –"

"_I said_ stop," Rand snapped, refusing to take no for an answer. Brown eyes met blue as Shaine resisted. "That's an order," Rand told her sternly, his fingers tightening warningly on her wrist.

Shaine glared over her shoulder at him, her expression mutinous, and he switched tactics.

"Trust me," he whispered in her ear and she finally stilled, the fear showing in her dark eyes.

Alec finally looked over at the far side of the room where Sway lay near Brax, whose eyes had opened a crack. Glassy and unfocused, his lids drifting between open and shut as his body fought to rid itself of the sedatives, the ruined X5 clearly had no idea what was happening. He was waking and it wouldn't be long before he became a threat. Alec felt a lump rise in his throat as he stared at what remained of his friend.

He hadn't wanted to believe Lydecker. He still didn't but this… this wasn't the Brax he remembered.

Brax hadn't been skin and bone, his ribs showing clearly through his skin, his hair a matted, oily mess. His once-handsome face was gaunt, ashen against the smears of filth and blood that marked him. Thick, ugly scars stood out on his chest.

The image of that room back at the base flashed through his mind. Once again his imagination supplied vivid pictures of Brax strung up like an animal… his stomach twisted in protest.

"Brax…"

It wasn't Alec who'd spoken. He glanced over at Rand, who swallowed hard, his blue eyes stricken as he gazed at his brother.

"You're just going to let him live?" Jett growled angrily, craning his neck to look back at Alec.

"We can't kill him, Jett –"

"_He killed Ember!_" Jett raged, his voice thick with anger and grief.

"I know," Alec said softly, burdened by the knowledge that nothing he said or did would ever be enough to ease the pain for the man he held prisoner. "But this isn't about him, Jett."

"Then what the hell is it about?" Shaine snapped in alarm, hackles rising.

"You're going to get yourself killed protecting him, Shaine," Rand told her harshly, giving her a slight shake, "and I don't want to choose between you and Jett. You hear me?"

Rand glanced over at Sway, who groaned and blinked as she came around.

"Sway?" he called out. "Are you okay?"

"Depends on your definition," she muttered, holding a hand up to her pounding head.

Alec gazed down at the man beneath him. He didn't dare use the 'Ember-wouldn't-want-this' approach. Considering how she'd executed Cain - Bo's biological father - after he'd almost killed Jett, Alec knew it wouldn't fly. So he used the only thing in existence that he knew Jett gave a damn about now that his mate was gone.

"Jett, if you do this," Alec tried again, "Bo's not going to have anyone left."

The velocity's gaze snapped up to Alec, the question in his eyes obvious.

"If you kill him in cold blood, you know we can't let it slide," Alec continued quietly, intently. "Do you really want to leave Bo with someone else? Ember trusted _you_ to look after him."

Jett hesitated and Alec seized the opportunity.

"He's already lost his mother tonight," Alec said softly. "Are you gonna take away his father too?"

A soft snarl was all the warning anyone in the room had.

**Ground Level**

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" Max demanded angrily, her temper rising up against the threat.

"I thought it was pretty obvious," Fallon said smoothly. "Did you think we were just gonna stand by and let you harbour another murderer?"

Max's eyes narrowed. "You attacked a safehouse because you're pissed off that Jess is still breathing?"

Fallon's lips curved up into a wicked smile. "Hardly. Though getting a shot at Blondie would be a bonus."

"You really oughta think twice about pointing a gun at my stomach," Max informed the female, her dark eyes taking on a steely glint as she stared Fallon down.

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah," Fallon replied with an air of condescension. "Is this the part where you give me a big speech about transgenic unity and how we all have to work together?"

"No," Max replied simply.

"No?" Fallon seemed genuinely surprised. "Well then, by all means…" She indicated the radio unit Max carried on her belt. "…Tell your people to stand down before my trigger finger starts getting itchy and baby bitch bleeds out of a bullet wound."

"I'll pass," Max said flatly.

"It wasn't a request, 452. It was an order."

Max's gaze didn't waver from Fallon's. Something told her that Fallon wouldn't risk killing her. The shooters outside had missed when by rights she should be dead. Why did they take out the bike but leave her and Alec in one piece? Except for a flesh wound to the arm, she was fine.

Max's patience had reached its limit. Her baby wasn't much more than a tadpole and already it had had more near-death experiences than most Ordinaries had in a lifetime.

"I was never good at taking orders."


	30. Fight or Flight

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Happy Birthday to Sakuraakira365!

**Chapter 30: Fight or Flight**

**The Safehouse**

Pain announced itself with all the gusto of a high-school marching band, the drummer raining blows down on the side of Zane's head. He didn't move a muscle as he oriented himself enough to run a mental inventory and realize it was only his head that was hurting. He kept his eyes closed and his muscles relaxed, instinctively focusing on listening to his surroundings to gauge his situation.

No-one in his immediate vicinity but plenty of action by the sound of things.

"I was never good at taking orders," he heard a feminine voice state calmly.

_Maxie?_ Done with playing possum, Zane opened his eyes and surged to his feet, swearing softly at the dizziness that forced him to pause for a moment. He pressed his hand to the source of his blossoming migraine and it came away stained with blood. "Son of a bitch…" _Syl… where the hell's Syl?_

Max, for her part, blurred at Fallon and couldn't suppress a small surge of satisfaction from knowing she was right when the bitch didn't pull the trigger. Instead, the rogue flipped the weapon in her grasp, spinning under Max's initial strike and wielding it like a baton. Max ducked under Fallon's arm, snatched her wrist from behind and kicked at her opponent's knees. Fallon's legs buckled and she twisted as she fell, lashing out at Max's stomach. Max jumped back out of the way as Fallon smoothly found her feet again.

"Not bad," Fallon grudgingly conceded.

"Just shut up and fight," Max replied, blurring into action with a punch that snapped Fallon's head back. Fallon hissed and returned the favour, the two women exchanging blows at lightning speed. Fallon managed to twist Max's arm up behind her back and growled in her ear.

"Give it up, 452. I've got ten years of training on you."

"I've heard that before," Max bit out, throwing her head back against Fallon's with a resounding _crack_! Fallon staggered back, blood streaming from her broken nose and Max whirled into a spinning kick that sent Fallon slamming into the wall.

_Wham!_

Max swung at Fallon's head for the last time and she dropped like a stone, her eyelids flickering as she swayed between waking and unconsciousness. Max glared down at her, the fury boiling over, just as Zane jogged in with Jag and Wolf half-a-step behind him.

"Bitch," Max spat, then turned away. "Somebody tie her up and shoot her if she moves."

"Not a problem," Wolf replied blithely, cocking his shotgun.

"Jag, get Sari in here _now_. Syl's down from a head shot."

"Yes, ma'am," Jag told her, nodding decisively before sprinting towards the front door.

"Zane, you're with me. The rest can secure the area," Max ordered crisply. "No-one leaves."

The transgenics fanned out to obey her instructions and Max and Zane rushed back to Syl, checking her pulse and breathing yet again, both of which were shallow and thready.

"Stay with me, sis," Max urged her softly, putting as much pressure on the wound as she dared. "I need you to help me gang up on Zane and Krit."

"Like you need the help," Zane muttered, flashing his sister an affectionate glance despite the gravity of the situation.

"You okay?" Max asked quickly, her eyes fixing on the blood staining the side of his head.

"Bruised my ego more than anything else," Zane told her. "I'm good."

"Did you see who did this?" Max asked, chewing her lower lip as the seconds ticked by. Zane simply shook his head. "She'll be all right," Max assured him as she glimpsed the worry lurking behind his brandy-brown eyes. "Syl's a fighter. Always was."

"Don't I know it," Zane agreed, one corner of his mouth lifting in a half-smile.

"Yeah, she beat your ass a couple of times, didn't she?" Max smiled at the memory.

"Hey! I was six!"

"Oh please, like that's an excuse," Max chided him with a roll of her eyes. "You're a combat model, for God's sake. She's half your size."

"Not back then, she wasn't," Zane replied.

"That's so pathetic. It's as bad as your dog being scared of cats."

"Okay, that's not fair, he was just a puppy. What did Diesel ever do to you?"

"Don't know. Don't care," Sari interjected as she practically shoved him out of the way to get to Syl.

"Joshua?" Max asked anxiously.

"Jess stayed with him," Sari replied quickly as she gestured for Max to move. "He's stable."

Max and Zane backed up a bit, hovering as Sari began working on Syl.

"How bad is it?" Zane asked.

"Well, she's not dead yet so that's a good sign," Sari informed them. "Now shut up and let me work."

Then Max heard it…

Sirens.

"Easier said than done," Max declared, biting back a groan of frustration. Sari swore and picked up the pace as Zane and Max exchanged an alarmed glance. Almost simultaneously, the entire safehouse fell silent as the rest of the transgenics picked up on their new guests.

Sector cops, drawn by all the gunfire.

Even in the midst of a coup, transgenics could always be trusted to prioritise. Survival topped the list. Faced with a choice of fighting each other or getting away from the local law enforcement, they'd choose the latter every time.

"Alec's downstairs," Max told Zane, looking up at him with anxious brown eyes.

"So go get him," he told her and she instantly turned to do so.

"Wolf, take Fallon!" Max ordered as she passed him.

"Yes, ma'am," the transhuman replied as the population of the safehouse began evacuating.

**The Basement**

"_Brax!_" Shaine screamed.

"_NO!_" Alec shouted as the feral X5 leaped the intervening distance… towards Rand, who barely had enough time to shove Shaine out of the way before Brax was on him, taking them both crashing down onto the floor. Alec had no choice to release Jett, lunging for his friend as he heard something _crunch_ under the pressure Brax was exerting.

Only the fact that Rand cried out in pain reassured Alec that he was still alive.

"Brax!" Alec seized the feral X5 by the arms from behind, forcibly dragging him off Rand, who scrambled out of range as quickly as he could. Brax struggled against Alec's grip, spitting and snarling, as Shaine rushed to Rand's side and helped him up, her bravado faltering as she saw the unnatural angle of his shoulder.

In the meantime, Jett had circled around Alec and watched with unreadable brown eyes as Sway grabbed hold of Brax's jaw and wrenched his head around, forcing him to look at her.

"Down boy," she growled, black eyes staring into brown. His struggles began to fade and he finally went slack in Alec's grasp, held prisoner by the force of Sway's will. She glanced up at Alec. "You can let go." Alec slowly obeyed, ready to grab hold of Brax again if he made any aggressive movements but he just sank silently into a crouch, rocking slightly.

Alec shifted his gaze to Jett, whose dark eyes were fixed on Brax.

"Don't even think about it, Jett," Alec warned. Jett didn't reply. Not that Alec had really expected him to.

Shaine swallowed hard and darted out the door to where Rand was leaning against the wall. He drew in a deep breath, gritted his teeth and shoved his shoulder back into its socket. Pain flared, lancing down his arm and he bit into his lower lip to hold back a whimper.

"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously, searching his eyes.

"Yeah, my best friend just tried to rip my fucking arm off," he snapped. "I'm fine."

Shaine paled and Rand immediately regretted losing his temper, no matter how much his shoulder felt like it was on fire.

"I didn't mean that," he told her in a gentler tone. She was the one who was four-months pregnant but she was worrying over his dislocated shoulder when she was bruised and bleeding from the fight with Jett.

He wanted to strangle her for being so thoughtless.

"Alec!" Max ran down the stairs and stopped in the doorway, dark hair flying. "We've gotta go! Listen!"

Alec glanced over his shoulder and took a moment to do as she said, his brow furrowing as he realized what was bearing down on them. "Fuck. We don't have time for this." Alec blurred, shoving Jett back against the wall as he drew his pistol and let the hammer fall. "Either get on board or get the hell out of our way."

"What's it gonna be?" Max asked, watching the velocity model carefully.

Jett's gaze slid from Alec to Max and back again. Slowly, he nodded and Alec stepped back.

"Sway, bring him," Alec ordered, "and keep a tight leash on him."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Sway replied dryly as she grasped Brax by the back of the neck and steered him out of the door.

**Outside the Safehouse**

Jess heard the sirens and looked up, her heart sinking into her toes as she realized what it meant. Anxious blue-green eyes scanned Joshua's helpless form, laid out on the floor of the van with bandages and anything Sari had been able to utilize holding him together.

She was the only one still sitting in the van with him. The rest had gone inside to salvage what they could from the situation or taken over the sniper positions on the other side of the street.

Jess felt a stab of apprehension as she looked up and glanced through the windscreen. She could make out the red and blue flash of the approaching cars in the distance, sirens blaring loud enough to wake the dead.

Max's standing orders forbade the killing of Ordinaries. She understood the logic behind that decision but right at that second, she wished she could ignore it. The grim knowledge that she was the only one close enough to protect Joshua settled itself on her shoulders and she softly chewed her lower lip, swallowing hard. She didn't like the idea of having to tell Alec or Max that she'd screwed up and their Big Fella was dead.

"You really drew the short straw tonight, Josh," she muttered as she gathered her mud-streaked hair and tied it into a quick knot to keep it out of her face.

_What is it with me and cops?_

She snatched up the radio and hit the button. "This is 767 calling all snipers. Over."

"_I hear you, Jess. Any requests?_" Tucker replied obligingly.

"Take out their tyres when they get here. I'll do the rest."

"_Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets_."

"Well, 'lady' is a bit of a stretch but thanks," Jess replied with a sad smile.

**The Ground Floor**

"Sari, we have to go," Zane urged the medic who was still working on Syl as the group came up from the basement with Brax in tow.

"I heard you," Sari replied tautly as she finished securing the dressings she'd applied to the blonde's head. "We have to get to the truck. We can't take her through the sewers."

"No argument. We're not leaving Joshua," Max agreed quickly as Sari produced a pistol and tried to hand it to Max, who shook her head and pushed it away. "No way."

"I'll take that," Shaine growled, appropriating the weapon while Sari lifted Syl as gently as she could and slung the unconscious female across her shoulders in a fireman's carry. Zane stood by her side and nodded at Max.

"Where's Jessie?" Alec asked, finally noticing his sister's absence.

"Outside with Joshua," Max informed him crisply as the sirens drew far too close for comfort. They heard the snipers open fire and as the police cars crashed into each other, Alec and Max shared a loaded look.

"All right, Sari, Sway, you're in the middle with Syl and Brax," Max ordered, glancing at Zane, Jett and Jag. "The rest are guarding you." The transgenics nodded in acknowledgement of her instructions. "Now let's get Joshua and get the hell out of here!"

**Outside the Safehouse**

Jess waited until she heard the guns fire, crouched on the floor of the van like a sprinter waiting for the starter pistol. She listened, eyes closed, as the police cars screeched to a halt, swerving and careening into each other as their tyres were shot out from underneath them. Just from focusing on the engines, she counted six cars.

Flashes of red and blue light reflected on the windshield behind her, bathing Joshua in their harsh glow as he laid there, blissfully unaware of what was happening. The van shook as one of the police cars collided with it and Jess swallowed hard, pursing her lips.

On Max's orders, transgenics weren't allowed to use lethal force but the police had no such restrictions. No matter what happened, this was going to get messy. She heard the thud of boots hitting the bitumen as the cops got out of their cars, taking cover behind them as a precaution lest the transgenics fire again. She concentrated and calculated a total number of twelve cops in this first wave. Others would undoubtedly follow.

A twinge of pain made her chest tighten but she brushed it aside. It was just phantom pain, a psychological ghost from the earlier events of that night. Her kind healed fast and she had no intention of dying again.

"Secure the van!"

Those were the words she'd been waiting for. The footsteps came closer, their pace increasing, and she could visualize it all – they'd surround the van, rifles at the ready, and open the back doors, confident in their numbers. So she moved first, using the only advantage she had – the element of surprise.

Jess threw the doors wide, leaping out of the van as fast as she could, seizing the first baton she saw from the grip of its stunned owner as she ducked out of the path of the first bullet, slamming the doors closed behind her to shield Joshua. Sure enough, six police cars blocked the street, each contributing at least two officers, and she was facing five of them.

"Shoot her!" came the panicked order as she whirled, knowing that in their current formation they'd have to back up to fire without endangering each other. Her baton struck her first target in the throat between helmet and vest and felled him instantly, leaving him on his knees, gasping desperately for breath. She snatched up his baton from his belt and spun into a series of kata strikes with both weapons, her body moving with no conscious direction from her mind as years of rote practice took over.

Two more cops went down before their companions managed to fire without risking their own men. She blurred, ducking and weaving as the volley continued, bullets ricocheting off metal as she drew their fire. She was dimly aware of Alec shouting her name as she dropped the batons and picked a target. She rushed him, forcing his companions to stop shooting at her as she slammed her open hand into his sternum and then his nose, breaking both on impact.

The next thing Jess knew, Alec was at her side, pulling her down behind one of the squad cars as the police scrambled to regain some kind of control of the situation, frantically calling for back-up.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Alec demanded, hazel eyes ablaze.

"Winging it!" Jess shot back.

One man who wasn't adequately shielded behind his own car screamed as a sniper shot out his kneecap.

"This is completely out of control," Alec growled as he glanced around, taking stock of their circumstances.

"Ya think?" Jess deadpanned as Max's group cut a swathe through what resistance remained, forcing the cops to fall back. However, they were squarely between Alec and Jess and the rest of the transgenics. More sirens wailed in the distance and Max got the back door of the van open while Jett jumped into the drivers' seat.

"Alec, come on!" Max called out as the others jumped in.

"We'll catch up!" Alec shouted, waving for them to get moving. It would be easier for him and Jess to hoof it in the other direction and take the sewers than engage the remaining cops. Any delays would reduce the van's chances of escaping the rapidly-approaching reinforcements.

"Alec –"

"Just go, Max!" he roared and ducked out of sight with Jess. The truck surged forward, unencumbered by the cops who were now cowering behind their cars. Nevertheless, he heard Max's parting shot and it made him smile.

"If you die, I'll kill you!"

_That's my girl_…


	31. Frailty

**Disclaimer: I don't own em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Okay guys, I'm leaving for a two week holiday in China on Saturday morning, so I probably won't update again until I get back. At this point, it doesn't look like Three Parts Dead will be updated before I go – Original Cindy just refuses to speak to me and she's a huge part of that chapter.

**Chapter 31: Frailty**

**Sector Three**

Jess glanced around at her surroundings and sighed, wrinkling her nose at the less-than-appealing smell.

"You know, I've been thinking. With all the time I've been spending in the sewers, maybe I should just live here. Give me some throw pillows, a CD player, a book or two and I could call it home."

"Didn't know subterranean was your style," Alec replied, lips twitching.

"Sunshine's overrated," Jess decided. "Besides, it'd save time. Instead of using the sewers to get home, I'd _be_ home. I wouldn't have to worry about hover drones or cops –"

"Or hygiene," Alec intoned dryly. "Please tell me you're going to pack deodorant."

"Eau de Toilette. Literally," Jess replied, finally cracking a smile. She shook her head. "Was it really necessary to drag me down here?"

"Yes," Alec told her, "or do you want those cops and hover drones you're so fond of getting a beat on you?"

"As long as they don't shoot me from my right. It's not my best side," Jess replied, preening dramatically.

"Yeah, well I don't want anyone shooting you at all. Period."

"Hey, the overprotective thing is my deal, remember?" Jess reminded him. "Relax, baby brother. I had everything under control."

"Oh, right," Alec scoffed. "So you saw the bullet that would have sprayed your brain all over the wall if I hadn't pulled you outta the way?"

"You worry too much," Jess muttered, prompting Alec to give her an incredulous look.

"_I_ worry too much?" He stopped walking and turned to look her squarely in the eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Shouldn't I be?" Jess asked, watching him curiously. "What's going on with you?"

"What's going on with _me_?" Alec echoed in blatant disbelief.

"Okay, are you just going to repeat everything that I say? 'Cause that's going to get old real fast," Jess warned him, placing her hands on her hips.

Alec closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath as he fought the urge to shout at her until her supposedly-revved up brain caught his drift. There were only two females in the world that had that effect on him. One was a brunette with a mean right hook. The other was standing in front of him, apparently oblivious to the fact that she'd scared him – badly – twice in one night.

"Jess, why didn't you tell me that your heart stopped when the base blew?" he finally asked, voice taut, his green-gold eyes fixed on her face. Her eyes widened a little, guilt flashing across her features as she shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh…" she breathed, reaching up to awkwardly push her hair away from her face. "That."

"Yeah, _that_," Alec snapped, his temper boiling over.

"Max told you, huh?"

"Yeah and she shouldn't have had to! I asked you if you were okay and you stood there and said you were fine!"

"Do you really want to have this conversation in a sewer?" Jess asked, praying for a reprieve.

"I'll take what I can get. Now answer the question."

"I _was_ fine… then," she finished lamely, knowing there was no way she was going to get off on a technicality. "If you'd asked a bit earlier, you'd have gotten a different answer."

"I wouldn't have gotten _any_ answer, Jess! You died!"

"Not for long," she argued sheepishly. "What does it matter? Max fixed it!"

Alec gaped at her. "What, so the fact that Max knows CPR makes it okay that I killed you?"

Jess's gaze snapped up in alarm. "Whoa, hold it," she said quickly, determined to nip that line of thinking in the bud. "You did _not_ kill me, okay?"

"I laid enough C4 to level a city block and pushed the button while you were inside," Alec bit out. "I killed you."

"Standing right here," she pointed out, arms wide as she turned slowly on the spot. "Alive and annoying you."

"Because Max brought you back," Alec persisted.

"Then I guess it's a good thing she doesn't hold grudges when the chips are down, huh?" Jess joked, aiming for levity and falling far short of the mark if the look on Alec's face was anything to go by. She cleared her throat softly as the grime on the sewer floors suddenly began to look very interesting.

"You think this is funny," Alec muttered accusingly, fists clenching as he started to stalk away and Jess' face fell.

"No, Alec, wait," she pleaded, jogging to catch up to him. "I'm sorry –"

"I don't want you to be sorry," Alec snapped, rounding on her. "I want you to stop lying to me."

"It was just a little fib –"

"I don't care if you bent the truth about eating chilli fries," Alec informed her. "We may bullshit everyone else but we _never_ do it to each other. Wasn't that the deal?" He didn't add that the rule had come about because they could usually see through each other's lies anyway.

"I just…" Jess halted for a moment, pursing her lips. "I didn't want you to worry about me."

"Seems to be your mantra lately," Alec replied flatly, hazel eyes burning with barely-suppressed anger.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jess demanded, frowning at her brother.

"It means that you've been weird for two months, Jessie," Alec told her sternly. "You want to tell me what's got you so spun you can't even talk to _me_?"

"Nothing," Jess stated, her voice clipped, blue-green eyes meeting hazel dead-on. "Okay?"

"Right," Alec echoed. "_Nothing_ is why you were avoiding me. _Nothing_ is why you shut me down every time I tried to figure out what the hell –" He broke off and growled in frustration.

"Alec," Jess said slowly and clearly. "I'm fine. Now let's get moving."

With that, Jess brushed past him, continuing on her way through the sewer system. Alec watched her go, his green-gold eyes shadowed as he braced himself to say what was necessary.

"You were never going to tell me, were you?" he asked softly, sadly.

"About what?" she huffed without stopping.

"Quinn."

Jess stopped dead in her tracks, her blood freezing in her veins. She blinked, certain that her ears must have been deceiving her. She half-turned to look at him, her brows drawing together.

"What are you talking about?" She barely managed to choke the words out past the lump in her throat, praying that she had enough composure left to pull off the bluff.

"You know, it didn't take a genius to figure it out," Alec informed her, a slight catch in his voice as he slowly approached her.

"To figure _what_ out?" Jess asked warily, watching her brother as he stepped closer.

"What he did to you," Alec continued, the look in his eyes making Jess' insides clench painfully. "At Crash."

Jess didn't trust herself to speak. She just stood there in shaken silence, not daring to look at him as her worst nightmare came to life.

"You know, it was like someone just switched off half your personality," Alec explained, doing his best to keep his voice steady and gentle. He had the impression that she was frozen, rather like a deer in headlights, and given a moment she would turn and run. "You were smiling but your eyes weren't." When she still didn't respond, he continued. "You stopped flirting… even with Rand. Actually, no-one with a Y-chromosome could get anywhere near you except for me and him."

He swallowed hard, not sure whether he should be worried or encouraged by her silence.

"And I saw the police reports," he confessed, the memory making his fists clench at his sides. "It's kind of hard to write-off a dead X5 male with his jeans around his ankles as a coincidence."

Jess flinched and Alec immediately regretted the flippancy of that last remark.

"So I'm going to ask again," he whispered, his eyes pleading with her. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

Her voice was so soft he barely caught her answer.

"No."

Alec's stomach clenched painfully, nausea sweeping over him as that one simple word confirmed all his worst fears. Bile rose in his throat and he found himself torn between hugging his sister and putting his fist through the nearest wall.

"What are you thinking? Huh? Why wouldn't you tell me?" he asked raggedly, honestly not comprehending how she could have deliberately kept something like that from him.

"Are you gonna fix me, Alec?" she asked quietly, meeting his hazel eyes. She shrugged a little, her gaze entirely devoid of its customary vivacity.

Alec felt his heart sink, suddenly feeling like lead in his chest.

"What do you want me to say?" she continued tonelessly. "That it hurt? Well, it did."

A cold feeling spread through his body as he stared at his sister with horrified eyes, wordlessly begging her to just _react_. To be angry or vengeful or upset… something! Not just this indifference, this total absence of visible emotion. She couldn't have convinced herself it was just another bad memory to bury like all the rest.

Jess bowed her head, chewing her lower lip before she let out a bitter, humourless laugh that chilled Alec to the bone. She shook her head, her lips twisting as she started to pace the width of the sewer.

"You know what really kills me?" she asked, a thread of rage winding its way through her voice. "The worst part of this whole fucked up thing is that I'm not even allowed to be angry at him.'

"What?" Alec croaked, not understanding.

"It wasn't him," she replied matter-of-factly. "It's not like Quinn went to Crash and figured it might be fun to…" She swallowed hard, staring at the wall. "He didn't know what he was doing… and I killed him for it."

Alec let out an unsteady breath, not daring to say a word lest Jess decided to clam up on him again. He'd forced this confrontation and he was going to hear every last syllable if it killed him.

"Abby tried to help and Slade turned on her," Jess continued in an oddly detached tone. "So I tackled him and yelled at her to get out. I was so caught up in beating Slade's head in that I didn't see Quinn come up behind me." She paused, trembling slightly at the memory. "I don't know what he hit me with but I blacked out. When I came to he had me pinned down over my good arm…"

_Jesus Christ_… Alec was shaking, rage and pain so strong they almost choked him. He could picture it, see it in his mind's eye and the image made his fists clench so hard his nails bit into his skin.

Jess had fallen silent, a far-away look in her eyes that made Alec nervous.

"Jessie?"

"So I ripped his throat out with a broken bottle," she finished, one shoulder rising a falling in a half-shrug as she met his eyes. "I killed him." She dragged in a deep breath. "He was bleeding out on the floor and… it was like someone flipped a switch in his head. He just… he just had this look on his face…"

"What look?" Alec whispered.

"Like he couldn't believe what he'd done," she replied in a hushed tone. "Fallon keeps calling it murder," Jess said weakly. "I keep thinkin' maybe she's right."

"No," Alec denied instantly, hazel eyes blazing at the very idea of it.

"No?" Jess challenged him, advancing on him angrily. "How the hell would you know? _You weren't there_!"

Alec stared at her, feeling like she'd punched him in the stomach while Jess stopped, horrified, as she realized what she'd blurted out.

"Alec… I didn't mean that –"

"No, you're right," Alec replied, sounding strangled. "I wasn't there. I was banging Max five ways from Sunday. That's what you wanted to say, right?"

Jess wouldn't look at him and his guts twisted painfully.

"I'm sorry –"

"_Stop saying that_!" Alec growled. The last thing he wanted her to do was apologize. He couldn't blame her for being angry with him. He remembered attacking her that night when she'd tried to stop him. She'd put herself between him and two bullets and he'd thanked her by throwing her across the bar and leaving her bleeding on the floor like garbage.

For a moment he wished he could trade places with Brax, that he could resurrect Quinn and tear him apart with no hesitation and no regrets. Never in his life had he wanted to hurt someone so badly.

"Who else knows?" he asked after a long silence.

"Kestrel and Cody," Jess replied softly. Alec's shrewd gaze searched her face for a long moment.

"Rand?"

Jess hesitated, then nodded. "He pulled me out of jail… saw the damage," she admitted reluctantly.

"So you could accept help from him but not me?" Alec's voice was taut with tension.

"You couldn't help, Alec," Jess told him miserably, shaking her head slightly. "Not with this."

"I could have tried!" Alec raged helplessly, the sick feeling intensifying.

Tears burned in Jess' eyes and it took every ounce of self-control she possessed to hold them back in the face of Alec's anguish. She couldn't fall apart. Not after twenty years of pretending everything was okay, that nothing could touch her. She could be angry, she could be cold. She could switch off and hide behind 767 but she refused to cry. Not now, after she'd spent two months of trying to rationalize what had happened, trying to convince herself that what Quinn had done could be swept under the carpet.

She was a soldier. She couldn't be that weak.

So why were her cheeks wet? With a grimace, Jess moved to wipe away the evidence but Alec caught her wrist, shaking his head gently. He pulled her into his arms, holding her close as she sniffled against his shoulder. "It's all right, Jessie. It's okay."

"No, it's not okay," she said, her voice breaking at the same moment she did.

Alec let her cry herself out. In twenty-one years he'd never seen Jess shed a tear, no matter what Manticore did to them. He just stood there, stroking her long hair and feeling utterly powerless to help.

"Jessie, I'm so sorry," Alec whispered brokenly against her hair and Jess let out a sound that was halfway between a sob and a laugh. Alec hugged her even tighter, thinking back to the first time he'd seen her afterwards, the way she'd stiffened as he'd hugged her. '_Broken ribs_', she'd said at the time but he knew it had been more. He'd been so fixed on their impending mission to rescue Brax and Mole that he hadn't looked any deeper. He'd let her laugh it off and act like nothing happened.

Never. Ever. Again.

"_I never really wanted you to see_

_The screwed up side of me that I keep_

_Locked inside of me so deep_

_It always seems to get to me._

_I never really wanted you to go_

_So many things you should have known_

_I guess for me there's just no hope_

_I never meant to be so cold."_

- "Cold" by Crossfade

**A/N:** For anyone who doesn't remember Abby, she's an Ordinary who befriended Jess in Chimera and was at Crash during Damage.


	32. The Point of No Return

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **I'm back! Yay! Miss me? Oooh, China rocked! Hope you like the new chapter! Much MA goodness…

**Chapter 32: The Point of No Return**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

"Where the hell are they?"

Max paced the command centre, her dark hair whipping out as she turned, her hands planted firmly on her slender hips. Her dark eyes flashed at the surveillance screens, her frustration building over the lack of movement on any of them.

Five hours. Alec and Jess had been gone for _five hours_.

Even taking into consideration the fact that Alec might have chosen to get out of Sector Three completely instead of going to the same safehouse as Max and the others, he should have surfaced by then. Every second that ticked by eroded Max's admittedly limited patience just a little bit more.

Half of her wanted to go out and find him. The other half reasoned that she had a responsibility and now that Rand had been hurt – again – she couldn't leave. Especially with Brax in the basement under Sway's watchful eye. She couldn't take the chance. Things had gone wrong because she'd left to drag Alec's ass back in the first place.

So she paced, silently threatening the universe and any higher powers that might be listening with bloody retribution if X5-494 didn't show up alive and preferably unharmed. Soon.

Typically, the cameras picked them up the moment Max turned her back for a moment to glance at the clock. She looked back to see Alec standing beside an open manhole behind the safehouse, holding out a hand to pull Jess up out of the sewer.

"Finally!" she grumbled, relief flooding her as she made a beeline for the door nearest to the newcomers. Alec swung it wide just as she rounded the corner and entered the corridor.

The stinging lecture Max had intended to issue died on her lips as she got a good look at the pair, her expression morphing into a mixture of puzzlement and concern.

They weren't injured. She could see that easily enough but something was clearly weighing heavily on both of them. Alec looked haggard, his green-gold eyes strangely faded, the set of his shoulders and the way he walked screaming tension. His gaze was fixed on Jess, whose eyes were puffy and red-rimmed as if she'd been crying. She kept her head down, her hair coming loose from its messy ponytail to fall around her face, shoulders hunched slightly as she avoided looking at anyone.

Max glanced over at Alec, the question in her eyes unmistakable. Alec just shook his head slightly, silently pleading with her to leave it alone for the time being. Only the look of miserable defeat lurking behind his eyes convinced her to do so even as determination to find out what had happened blossomed in the back of her mind.

"About time, you two," she said crisply though she was careful not to sound too casual. "Jess, Sari's waiting for you in the clinic. She wants to check you over."

The blonde nodded and glanced up at Alec, who reached up to smooth back her tangled mass of hair before giving her a gentle nudge in the right direction. The gesture was clearly intended to be reassuring and his troubled gaze lingered on his sister as she obeyed without a word.

That alone sent alarm bells ringing in Max's head. It wasn't like Jess to be so subdued.

Max folded her arms across her chest, taking in the scene with rapidly-building apprehension. She waited until she was sure that Jess was out of earshot before stepping closer to Alec.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, staring at him in bewilderment. "You were gone for five hours!"

"Where's Rand?" Alec asked flatly, his expression closing off in classic Manticorean fashion. Max's brows drew together at the evasion.

"Alec," she tried again, refusing to be blown off, "what's wrong?"

"_Where is he_?" Alec snapped, eyes suddenly blazing with anger. Max blinked, her mind immediately trying to find a connection between Rand and whatever was eating at Alec and Jess. Nothing jumped out at her.

"He's upstairs. Third floor," Max replied finally, knowing she wouldn't get any answers by asking the same question over and over again – she'd learned that when the Berrisford mission had come back to haunt him. So when Alec immediately stalked away, Max was right behind him.

"Which room?" Alec demanded when he reached the top of the stairs.

"Second on the left," Max huffed, glaring at his back as she followed him through the appropriate door.

"Alec, we've gotta work on your punctuality," Rand joked, his smile fading as Alec's fist slammed into his jaw, throwing him back into the wall.

"Hey!" Max protested, surging forward to clamp a restraining hand on Alec's arm before he could continue his assault on Rand, who pushed away from the wall, all traces of humour gone.

"You should have said something!" Alec raged.

"So you talked to Jess then," Rand surmised, swivelling his jaw experimentally. Max's fingers tightened warningly on Alec's bicep as she shot Rand a confused look.

"What the hell's going on here?" she demanded, her temper reaching boiling point as Alec remained stubbornly silent, glaring at Rand, who wasn't any more forthcoming. Making a sound of disgust, Max stepped in front of Alec and shoved him towards the door. "Out. Now." She glanced back over her shoulder at Rand. "Don't go anywhere."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Rand replied, his blue eyes stony as he watched Max force Alec out of the room.

Max slammed the door behind her and shoved Alec in the back, steering him towards the staircase and bullying him up the stairs. "Fifth floor. Third door on the right. Don't make me kick your ass," she told him sternly.

Alec gave her an inscrutable look but didn't fight her as she marched him to their quarters like an errant child. Their X6 roommate took one look at their faces and scurried out.

Alec steeled himself, fully expecting to be blasted for his behaviour.

"We're mated, right?"

The question was so far out of left field that Alec blinked at her, caught completely off-guard.

"_Right?_" Max repeated slowly in an ominous tone and Alec nodded, a strangely fuzzy feeling stealing over him at the thought, momentarily chasing away his anger.

"And do you know what that means?" Max continued, hands on her hips, one index finger tapping out an impatient rhythm against her jeans.

"Is this a trick question?" Alec asked warily, wondering how this conversation, enlightening as it was, related to what had just happened downstairs.

The heel of Max's hand connected with his sternum, hard enough to make him wince. "It means, smart ass, that you try to stay out of trouble." She hit him again, forcing him to take a step backwards. "It means that if I catch you with another woman, I'll break every bone in your body." She struck him a third time and his legs connected with a chair. "And it means that you tell me what's wrong _before_ you start pounding on people! Have you got that?"

Comprehension dawned and Alec looked away, grinding his teeth. Max looked up at him, clearly expecting an answer he wasn't sure he could give without either lashing out or breaking down. He shook his head, his jaw tightening.

"Alec."

Her tone had softened and she moved closer so that she had to turn her face up to his and he could feel her body radiating warmth. The sensation was oddly comforting – so much so that he had to curb the impulse to reach out and just hold her. It hit him then – how vulnerable he was to this woman – and a small part of him shivered at the thought.

"Alec, look at me," she urged him, easily reading the indecision in his eyes. She tried not to let it bother her. Their kind had a tendency to fight anything in the vicinity of emotion and Alec was no different. It was one thing to blurt out that they were mated to get her point across but adjusting to the reality was going to take time for both of them. "Alec…"

Hazel eyes reluctantly met brown, the mask crumbling around the edges. Max's heart constricted at the raw look of pain in eyes that usually laughed instead, lighting up the world with his smart remarks and quicksilver smile.

"Have you ever felt so helpless you thought you might go crazy?" he asked at last, his voice strained.

Max nodded thoughtfully. She could see herself holding Brin in the back of a military vehicle, watching tears roll down Zack's cheeks as their sister grew weaker by the moment. She saw Tinga floating lifelessly in the tank, hooked up to tubes, her skin a sickening grey.

"A few times," she replied softly, bringing her attention back to the man in front of her. He tore his gaze away from hers and strode across the room, raking a hand through his hair. Max turned to watch him, an image flashing through her mind of him sitting at the bar at Crash, nursing a glass of scotch as he brooded about Rachel. It felt eerily familiar… except that she had no intention of walking away this time. "Alec, what should Rand have told you?"

"You're better off not knowing, Max," he replied softly.

Max stiffened, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Uh uh. No way," she told him firmly.

He looked at her sharply, questioningly.

"Do you have any idea how many things I didn't tell Logan because I thought he'd be better off not knowing?" she argued, prepared to fight for her right to be included. "I'm a big girl, Alec. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

"Max, it's not –"

"I never told him about Ben."

Alec stared at her in consternation, the unspoken question in his eyes.

"I told you because I knew you'd understand… that you wouldn't make judgements," Max continued in a voice that was gentle but still firm. "So think real hard before you try to tell me I wouldn't get it."

Alec swallowed hard, his gaze fixed on the floor as he mulled over what she'd said. It occurred to him suddenly that this was it – this was a relationship. A _real_ relationship with _Max_. His stomach did a curious flip-flop, fear and elation warring for dominance.

He'd been with women. More than his share if he was honest. He'd fallen in love before but what he'd shared with Rachel had been so innocent by comparison, never going any further than soft kisses in the swimming pool and impulsive declarations that made his hands shake.

This was completely unexplored territory for him. He didn't know how to do this – to function as one half of a whole, to be responsible for and to another person to such a degree. He knew how to be a brother. He knew how to be a friend or lover.

But now… he was Max's mate.

Mother fucker.

He couldn't _not_ tell her… but that meant giving a part of himself to her that he knew he would never, ever get back. It meant letting her in and letting her stay there. It meant that she could hurt him if she wanted to and he wouldn't be able to defend himself the way he used to. For him, it was the point of no return.

He lifted his gaze to Max, who was still watching him with worry clouding her liquid brown eyes. Everything was right there on the tip of his tongue, just waiting to spill out if he'd let it. But he knew it would hurt her too – she'd feel responsible for what had happened to Jess as well.

"Alec, you and Rand hardly ever fight," Max tried again. "What happened?"

Alec dragged in a deep, ragged breath and moved over to the wall, sliding down until his backside hit the floor. As he'd expected, Max came over to join him, hunkering down in front of him so she could look him in the eyes.

"Quinn raped Jess."

It hurt to say it out loud. It was as if he'd woken up from a nightmare only to discover it was real. He felt his defences crack under the pressure. Max froze, her face falling in shock.

"What?" She managed to utter that one syllable as she stared at Alec, aghast.

"That's why she killed him," he choked out, his voice shaking first with sorrow and then growing anger. "Rand knew," he growled. "He knew and he never said a fucking word!"

An image of Jess with puffy, bloodshot eyes flickered in Max's mind. Every angry comment and accusation she'd flung at the blonde about what had happened at Crash bubbled up from her memory and she fought down the sick feeling that washed over her. The pieces of the puzzle regarding the scene downstairs suddenly fell into place. It even explained why Rand and Kestrel had closed ranks after her heat. They'd been shielding Jess, united by a trauma they had in common.

Alec tipped his head back against the wall, the muscles in his jaw working as a hint of moisture crept into his eyes. His chin trembled for a moment and Max acted on impulse. She got up and swung a leg over his lap, kneeling across his hips and slid her arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly.

For a moment, nothing happened. Alec tensed beneath her, his breath catching in his throat. Then his arms slowly enfolded her, wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer. He sat up straighter, burying his face in her neck as he hugged her fiercely, accepting the comfort she offered, meagre as it was.

Max knew the moment he broke in her arms and just held him, sadness creeping over her for both Alec and Jess. Alec loved his sister as fiercely as she'd loved Tinga and Brin and she'd have given anything to stop him from hurting… but Max knew with a heavy heart that there was nothing she could do to ease his pain except this.


	33. Ghosts

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N:** Okay, HUGE thanks to everyone who's been sticking with this convoluted mess of a story. lol. Your support means so much to me (not the mention your reviews:P) I honestly don't thank you guys often enough.

**Chapter 33: Ghosts**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve Clinic**

Jess sat with her legs over the side of a bunk, staring down at the floor, listening to the steady rhythm of her heartbeat on the monitor Sari had produced out of nowhere. She had no idea where the medic had scavenged it from but the clinic was full of unexpected treasures like that.

A few feet away, Joshua remained unconscious, his wounds now properly tended, his breathing monitored as closely as her pulse. Sari seemed confident that the dog-man would recover swiftly now that he was safe and under supervision. Syl was on the other side of the room, behind a curtained-off section, hooked up to countless machines. Apparently she was stable.

Considering her workload, Sari was handling everything with calm efficiency, dividing her attention between her patients with the confidence that years of military training tended to imbue. Though Jess hadn't escaped a rebuke for leaving the van and disappearing for several hours.

"A heart patient has no place in combat!" had pretty much been the gist of her speech.

Jess envied her.

She'd been trying to gather her thoughts and defences without a great deal of success. She felt fragmented, a sensation that she wasn't enjoying at all. Most of all, she felt completely and utterly drained, as if all her energy and strength had deserted her in the sewers. All she really wanted to do was curl up on the bunk and sleep but her brain was spinning circles and she knew she'd just lie there awake.

Two months of bluffing and Alec had seen right through it. The look on her brother's face as he'd asked her why she'd lied to him taunted her.

She hated that look and she'd never in a million years thought that she'd be the cause of it.

She'd known the truth would hurt him. Perhaps she'd been naïve to think that she could protect him from it forever. It had been eating her alive and she knew Alec was more than capable of ferreting out fact from fiction. She should have paid more attention when Joshua had talked to her, stating that she was 'angry at everyone'. It had been the biggest hint anyone had dropped that they knew something was wrong and she'd brushed it aside, so certain that she had everyone fooled.

Alec was angry and upset and she couldn't blame him. They'd been watching out for each other for as long as they could remember and he felt like she'd betrayed him by keeping secrets. Deep down, the irrational fear that he might not forgive her made her tremble.

She couldn't handle anything right at that moment. Sari had figured that out pretty quickly and backed off, giving her space once she'd made certain Jess hadn't done any more damage to herself. She needed to retreat and get her guard back up before she could face anybody outside of the clinic.

She drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she tried to centre herself as she had countless times before.

"Krit, I was with her for the first three hours and I've been checking on her every half hour since," a familiar voice stated patiently from outside in the corridor. "Sari said she's stable."

Jess looked up, her blue-green eyes flying open as she identified the speaker. Her heart rate jumped, the display on the monitor spiking in response and she tore the sensors away from her skin before they alerted Sari. She jumped nimbly over the bunk and crouched down behind it to hide herself, swearing under her breath as the door opened.

Nevertheless, she couldn't resist peeking out as he walked in, a cell phone held up to his ear.

"Krit, she's going to be fine, I promise," Zane continued as he made his way to the curtained-off section where Syl was being watched like a hawk. "The girl's too stubborn to die." A pause. "Of course I know that. I'm your big brother, which means I'm always right." Another pause. "Yeah, it does."

Jess tried not to stare at him – she honestly did – but she couldn't help it.

His face was so familiar on so many levels it almost hurt to look at him. He was taller and broader, his hair cropped short and curling close to his scalp instead of long and wild. Every physical feature was identical to Kal, his twin, but she could see the distinction immediately.

Zane moved differently, his frame more relaxed than Kal's had ever been. He'd had the benefit of living beyond the age of sixteen, unlike his clone, and the years had been kind to him. He vanished behind the curtain and Jess let out the breath she'd been holding, closing her eyes as she raked her messy hair away from her face.

"Krit, I'm looking at her right now," she heard him continue. "Yeah and she's the same as she was the last ten times you called me." He sighed, sounding slightly exasperated. "You could always come over here and see for yourself if you don't believe me." Another pause. "So bring her with you or find someone to watch her."

Jess easily guessed that they were discussing Briar. She felt a momentary pang of sympathy for Krit, trapped between caring for his daughter and getting to his mate's side.

"Jess, what the hell are you doing?" Sari demanded, appearing out of nowhere and staring down at her patient as if she'd lost her mind. She grabbed at Jess' arm and dragged her upright, snatching up the discarded sensors. "Put those back on right now!"

"No, I –" Jess stammered to a halt as the curtain was shoved back and Zane stepped out to see what was going on. He found the source of the commotion and his brandy brown eyes widened as they fixed on Jess. Never in her life had she wanted to disappear so completely. She'd have sold her firstborn just to become invisible on the spot.

Zane was standing shock still, staring at Jess like he'd just seen a ghost.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit!_ Jess swore inwardly, cringing as several emotions flitted across his face. She swallowed hard, smoothing her expression with an immense effort.

"Krit, I've gotta go," he said into the phone and snapped it shut. Jess took an involuntary step backwards when he crossed the room, never taking his eyes off her.

"I thought you were dead…" Zane ground out, his tone just shy of accusing as he continued to stare at Jess.

"Uh…" Jess opened her mouth but nothing coherent came out.

Sari glanced from Zane to Jess and back again. "I think you've got the wrong girl, Zane," she interceded carefully. Everyone knew the story of the 09 escape and she didn't want trouble in her clinic.

Zane moved forward slowly, cautiously, as if he still wasn't quite sure he could believe what he was seeing.

The blonde swallowed and tentatively offered him her hand. "I'm Jess."

Something flickered in Zane's brandy brown eyes and his expression slowly morphed from stunned to thunderous. He didn't shake the hand she offered and it dropped lamely to her side. Sari's eyes narrowed warily as the 09er's fists clenched.

"You're a twin," Zane growled. Jess nodded mutely, pursing her lips.

Then just like that, Zane's entire demeanour changed. It was like he'd flipped an internal switch. He relaxed, his face smoothing into neutrality. Jess blinked uncertainly, not sure what to make of the sudden shift.

"Sorry," the 09er said stiffly, finally holding out his hand as he introduced himself. "I'm Zane."

Jess hesitated but accepted the gesture, her hand clasping his. The touch seemed to burn but she refrained from snatching her hand back. She was still standing close to Sari. The medic's mediating presence was the only thing stopping her from giving in to the urge to run and hide.

"It's nice to meet you," she replied cautiously.

"Jess…" Zane nodded thoughtfully, rolling the name over his tongue. His brandy brown eyes were still fixed on her, studying her with unnerving intensity. "You remind me of someone I used to know."

"Yeah… you too," Jess told him as he finally released her hand. She squashed down the impulse to scratch his eyes out just to make him stop looking at her.

"So you're Alec's sister," he observed, running his eyes over her. He smiled a little but there was no warmth in it and Jess shivered. His brandy brown eyes met hers, letting her know he'd seen her reaction and Jess bristled defensively, a flash of anger in her blue-green eyes as she folded her arms and glared. Zane let out a humourless chuckle and finally began to move past them.

"See you 'round… _Jess_."

With a final nod at Sari, Zane sauntered down the corridor with every appearance of nonchalance. Jess watched him until he was no longer visible, disappearing into the kitchen. Even then she was still staring at the door.

"Jess?" Sari waved a hand in front of her face and finally snapped her fingers to get her attention. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Uhuh," Jess responded automatically, mentally scrambling for some sort of equilibrium. She'd gone completely numb at long last, her emotions shutting down in response to the overload. Yet it wasn't the relief it should have been. She sat down on the bunk and let Sari re-attach the monitor leads, ignoring the curious looks the medic was giving her.

For a moment she was sixteen again, staring down at Kal as his body twitched on the ground, blood leaking from his mouth and nose. She watched Lydecker's impassive face as he pulled the trigger and ended it. She felt Alec standing a few feet away, neither of them daring to move in their commanding officer's presence.

She remembered the exact second that she realized how wrong it was that they'd all been twinned. The knowledge that there were two men in the world with the same eyes… and that she had Eva's. It was the first time she'd hated her own existence.

She just stared at a spot on the nondescript wall, her filthy hair falling around her face. She still hadn't had a chance to clean herself up and wouldn't until Sari released her. She concentrated on breathing, on the rhythm of the blood pounding in her ears.

If she listened hard enough, the world narrowed until nothing else could impinge on her consciousness and things became simple again. She'd learned that in PsyOps – how to block out the white noise and compartmentalize her thoughts and memories, burying them in that small part of her mind that not even Manticore could touch. If she did that, she could limit how much they could take from her. Even if she never found it again, it was still part of her.

She hadn't thought about Kal or Zane, or Dioscuri, in years for that very reason.

She rubbed a hand over her face, swallowing down the memories that had crashed over her like a tidal wave the moment Joshua had said Zane's name. It was amazing how long ago that seemed when it had only been a few days ago. So much had changed so fast that her head was spinning.

She leaned forward, her head falling into her hands, as one thought suddenly dominated all the others.

_Run… just run away_.

It was beyond tempting. She could start all over again in a place where no-one knew her with a new name and a new attitude. She could be anyone she wanted to be. Jess could fade away, knowing that Max would keep Alec safe and vice versa.

But she couldn't leave. No matter how many times she contemplated the idea, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She just didn't have it in her to run. Emotionally, yes, but not physically. It wouldn't make her feel any better. It wouldn't tame the chaos in her head.

So she just sat, with only her thoughts and the beeping of the heart monitor for company.

**Down the Hall…**

Zane slammed his door behind him and started pacing the room, unsure of which piece of furniture to throw first.

Her face - Eva's face - swam in front of his eyes, mocking him. Pale gold hair longer than Eva's had ever been, the same blue-green eyes... somehow that made it worse, knowing that she would have been more beautiful than he remembered.

He kept flashing back to the moment when a bullet had torn through his sister, taking her away from him forever. He could picture it clearly. Lydecker stepping out of the shadows, a pistol levelled at Eva's chest. It was the bravest thing he'd ever seen anyone do – facing down Colonel Donald Lydecker without flinching. He only wished she'd pulled the trigger first. Then maybe she'd be there with him, whole and unsullied.

More than a decade after that moment, he still missed her as acutely as that first day in the outside world. He remembered watching the sun rise over the trees, his arms and legs numb from running through the freezing snow for hours on end, his muscles burning from the strain. It had hit him then that he'd never see Eva again. The fiercest of his sisters and his favourite.

And now… the look on that eerily familiar face was burned into his memory. What had he seen there? Fear? Anxiety? Pain?

Jess.

Not Eva. He had to get his head around that but something inside refused to acknowledge it.

How had he not noticed her when he first walked into the clinic? He always watched his surroundings – it was second nature to him – and he'd have heard her if she'd entered the clinic after him. He'd have recognized her instantly so how…?

Had she hidden from him? _Why_ would she hide from him unless…?

His expression darkened as it clicked.

With a roar of rage, Zane picked up the nearest chair and hurled it at the wall, shattering it into pieces before bracing himself against the counter and bowing his head, breathing hard as he tried to get himself under control, one thought ricocheting through his head like the gunshot that had taken Eva's life.

He wanted to kill Donald Lydecker.


	34. Catch 22

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Hey, guys! Just thought I'd say that the last chapter was deliberately vague, so if any confusion resulted, it'll be cleared up as the story progresses.

**Chapter 34: Catch 22**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

It was a much more subdued Alec and Max that made their way back down to the command centre almost an hour later, walking side by side, and asked for a situation report. Rand cast a sidelong glance at the pair.

"You haven't told him?" Rand asked Max, who shrugged a little.

"We had other things to talk about," she informed him, meeting his eyes in a manner that told him she was fully aware of what had caused the earlier altercation between the two males. "He can catch up and then you can fill us in on anything new."

"Fair enough," Rand replied, too tired to argue with her as he turned to Alec. "Which do you want first? The bad news or the really bad news?"

"The bad news," Alec told him with a sigh as he settled in to listen.

"Okay… first, we've got four prisoners. Jett's confined to quarters. Lydecker's still in Sector Seven at Headquarters. Sway's got Brax under control in the basement and Fallon woke up a while ago in the brig but hasn't said a word. Safehouse Eight's been completely overrun by Sector Cops and the media. The snipers stayed and have been relaying information ever since. It looks like the techs were able to successfully destroy any incriminating information but a hoverdrone caught some of the action while we were escaping and it's pretty obvious that transgenics were living there."

Alec groaned in frustration. "All right, what's the really bad news?"

"Everyone knows about Brax and Ember," Max replied gravely. "Fallon's people made sure of that and they're using it as leverage along with the whole Jess and Quinn thing. They also made sure that everyone knows we're holding Fallon."

"Let me guess," Alec interceded, his voice taut. "They're saying that their fearless leader was acting in the interests of the Freak Nation, protecting the people from the killers and that we're the big bad now."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Rand agreed. "Deck's still under wraps as far as we know."

"Great," Alec groused. "That's just fucking great. How much of a support base does she have?" Alec was hoping for a favourable answer but Rand's expression quickly disabused him of the notion.

"I've had a couple of people I trust doing some recon," Rand told them. "They got back to me while you two were upstairs. We're looking at a forty percent loss."

"Forty percent?" Max echoed, horrified by the number. "Forty percent switched sides?"

"Think about it, Max," Alec urged her, sounding weary. He hated the knowledge that they couldn't blame that number entirely on Fallon twisting the truth. "We didn't look for bodies when White gave me those barcodes and we should have. We didn't put the safehouses on lockdown when the killings started. Rand and I took off looking for confirmation and then when we didn't check in as scheduled, you went off the reservation as well."

"Yeah and Boyd screwed up by running his mouth off," Max pointed out heatedly.

"He was a CO on a provisional basis," Rand reminded them. "Remember? He volunteered for the position but he's never actually been tested under pressure until now. We should have known better."

"So now Fallon's made it look like we're harbouring killers instead of protecting our own kind." Max gritted her teeth. "Let's all just ignore the fact that Jess had cause and that Brax was tortured until they broke him."

"That's just it. No-one except us and about two other people know the truth about Jess," Alec replied, meeting her eyes. "And whose fault is it that they had Brax long enough to do that to him?" He shook his head. "That's on us, Max. Fallon's got that part right."

"So by extension they're blaming us for Lenny and Ember," Max surmised tensely.

"And what happened at the safehouse. There are more than a few people who think Jett had the right idea about putting Brax down," Rand continued, shifting uncomfortably at the thought. "They know how dangerous he is." He rolled his shoulder, wincing slightly at the stiffness.

"A propaganda war," Max mused, shaking her head. "Fallon's playing it smart. She's got us stuck."

"Vance and a group of others have already asked for her release," Rand told them.

"Asked?" Alec raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"In a manner of speaking," Rand grudgingly admitted.

"What did they say?" Max looked as if she was dreading the answer.

"Well, most of it was along the lines of 'step down and let Fallon go or we'll make you'. I told them to fuck off as politely as possible."

"I can't believe what a mess this is," Max huffed angrily. "Keeping her locked up indefinitely won't go down well with the troops because we'll look as bad as Manticore. Instant cavalry for the bitch of the year."

"If we let her go, she'll just go back to making trouble for us," Alec finished for her. "But we can't kill her either."

"She's got us trapped," Max sniped, searching her mind for any way out of the situation. "It's catch-twenty-two. No matter what we do, we're screwed."

"So we'll do what we always do," Alec advised her. "We'll improvise."

"Yeah? What do you propose?" Rand asked, lounging against the wall.

"We could tell Fallon the truth about Jess," Max suggested grimly.

Rand shook his head. "You can't do that unless Jess agrees and she won't," he said gravely.

"Is that your excuse?" Alec snapped, glaring at Rand. "That Jess has to give permission?"

Rand didn't reply. He just held Alec's gaze steadily, not making any move to defend his actions. Max just shook her head and rolled her eyes, fed up with displays of testosterone.

_Men_… she grumbled to herself.

"So what do we do about Boyd?" Max asked, knowing the question had to be addressed and figuring a change of subject wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Back at Manticore, anyone who screwed up that badly would have been stripped of their rank," Alec said thoughtfully. "I don't like the idea of imitating Deck but we can't have a CO in place that we don't trust."

"The problem is that with the mortality and injury rate, no-one else has stepped up to volunteer for the job," Max pointed out. "Boyd was the only one and that still leaves Mole's position up in the air."

"Because we wanted a transhuman there and none of them could stop fighting amongst themselves long enough to agree on a replacement," Alec reminded her.

"And they wouldn't let us nominate someone, even on a temporary basis, without them giving us the go-ahead," Rand chimed in. "They had our hands tied on that one."

"Well, screw that. We need a full CO roster so this shit doesn't happen again," Max decided, folding her arms across her chest. She winced slightly as her fingers caught on the flesh wound to her bicep, now stitched and bandaged but still painful.

"Any suggestions for Boyd's spot?" Alec asked, giving her a measuring look. Max sucked in a deep breath and made a face. The silence dragged on for several seconds.

"Kestrel," Rand replied out of nowhere, a thoughtful expression on his face. Both Max and Alec blinked, turning to look at him in surprise.

"Kestrel?" Alec echoed, regarding Rand with a hint of pleased astonishment. "Seriously?"

"Have you two got a better idea?" Rand challenged them. "She may not have command experience but she's got the attitude."

"We're not going to argue with you. I just can't believe that you nominated her first," Max told him with a hint of a smile. "Could you work with her?"

"I'm not saying it'll be the most fun I've ever had but yeah," Rand said with a nod. "If we're doing it the same way we did last time with rotating shifts then it won't really matter anyway because we'll be working different hours."

"I don't know," Max mused. "Like you said, she doesn't have any command experience."

"Neither did you, Maxie, before you came to TC," Alec murmured in her ear.

"If you want qualifications, check out the safehouse network. She set the whole thing up, remember?" Rand felt obligated to point out. "Besides, if things get ugly, we can work together without killing each other. The whole Jess thing pretty much cleared up that question."

Max and Alec looked at each other and Alec shrugged, not seeing any reason why not.

"Okay…" Max decided. "Kestrel's in if she wants the job. Now about the transhumans…"

"Wolf or Abe get my vote," Alec informed them. "They've been running the show on that front since Mole went missing anyway. The transhumans trust them."

"Now that we know Mole wasn't killed by Matheson, they won't want to fill the slot until they know if he's alive," Rand replied. "Not permanently, anyway. If there's one thing you can say about transhumans, they stick together."

"Mmm. Wish we could say the same about our kind, huh?" Max sighed, brushing her hair away from her face. "All right, Rand, you go and recruit Kestrel."

"Me?" he asked, staring up at her in consternation.

"Your idea," she impressed on him. "It's only fair you talk to her about it first. Alec, you should work on the transhumans. I'll see what I can get out of Fallon. Once that's done, we'll talk to Boyd."

"Fine by me," Alec decided. He turned towards the door but Max put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Wait," she said, glancing from Alec to Rand. "You two need to get this whole Jess thing straightened out first."

"Max –" Rand started to argue but she pinned him with a silencing look.

"You're no good to me or anyone else while you're pissed off at each other," Max said sharply. "Fix it and then you can go and do the rest. Clear?"

"But –" Alec began.

Max whipped a finger under Alec's nose. "Stay." And with that, she turned on her heel and left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving them alone.

The two men watched each other uneasily for a short time until Rand rubbed his jaw where Alec had hit him.

"So, uh… I guess I deserved that punch earlier," he conceded.

"You guess?" Alec deadpanned. Rand's jaw tightened as he watched his friend.

"I wanted to tell you about Jess, man," Rand confessed.

"So why didn't you?" Alec demanded quietly.

"Because Jess didn't want me to," Rand told him honestly, blue eyes meeting Alec's hazel ones. "Kestrel and Cody only knew because they helped me patch her up after we pulled her out of jail. She didn't want anyone else to know."

"I'm her brother," Alec snapped.

"Exactly," Rand replied quietly, holding Alec's gaze. He saw a flicker of bafflement in 494's eyes and let his breath out in a rush. "Alec, you know that girl would do anything to protect you. What makes you think that's strictly in a physical sense?"

Alec didn't have a ready answer for him and Rand nodded knowingly.

"Jess didn't want you to get hurt by knowing what happened," Rand informed him. "She thought you were better off in the dark."

"Is that what you think?" Alec growled accusingly.

"No," Rand told him, not backing down. "I thought you should know but I couldn't force her to tell you, Alec. After something like that, you can't make someone do anything or it just makes things worse, believe me." Rand turned away, scrubbing a hand over his face.

Alec felt some of the anger drain away as he remembered that Rand had some experience in that area.

"You and Kestrel?" he asked tentatively.

"After they pulled me out of the pit and checked me over, they threw me right back into the breeding programme with her," Rand reluctantly admitted, his voice tinged with sarcasm. "The guards came in with tasers to make us more co-operative when we didn't jump gleefully into each other's arms."

Alec's anger finally snuffed out completely as that piece of information sank in. Rand _never_ spoke of what had happened with Kestrel – it was a kind of unspoken taboo between him and his friends. It hadn't occurred to Alec until that moment that Rand, better than anyone else, would know how Jess felt. It should have but it hadn't.

"Look…" Rand said through gritted teeth. "I tried to convince her to tell you. Do you think I _liked_ keeping that a secret?"

Alec's stoic expression gave nothing away and Rand knew there wasn't any other argument he could put forward to plead his case.

"Why don't you just take another swing and get it out of your system?" Rand offered, holding Alec's gaze. The hazel-eyed X5 just stood there for a moment, his hands clenching into fists but at long last he shook his head.

"Won't change anything," he said quietly. "It's done."

Part of Alec wanted to walk out right then and there. But the other was hesitant to leave while things with Rand were so up in the air. Rand was one of his closest friends, one of a handful of people he'd trust with his life without hesitation. Yet there wasn't anything more they could do. Rand had said his piece and Alec was still angry.

Time, he assumed, would just have to do the rest. They had enough to deal with – Jess, Brax, the fallout from the safehouse debacle. It was all pressing down on them, a weight on their shoulders that couldn't be shifted.

So Alec nodded and turned towards the door. However, he halted on the threshold.

"Hey, Rand?"

"Yeah?"

Alec raised green-gold eyes to his friend. "Thanks for looking out for her."

"Any time," Rand replied quietly.

**Meanwhile…**

Max pulled the gag down and Fallon ran her tongue around her mouth, lubricating it. Then she smiled up at her captor with more confidence than a prisoner had any right to.

"I was wondering how long it'd be before you came to see me," she told them, dark eyes fixed on Max. "How's your day been?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Max asked harshly. "We can't afford to be fighting amongst ourselves. Not if we want to live long enough to be free."

"Spare me the speeches, 452," Fallon replied, rolling her eyes. "I've got you backed into a corner and you can't stand it."

"Do you really want to start a civil war?" Max demanded. "You know that's where this is heading."

"Think of it as a hostile takeover, Max," Fallon advised her. "Out with the old, in with the new."

"That's pretty cocky considering your situation," Max observed, gesturing around the makeshift cell.

"Oh, come on now, Max," Fallon replied in a condescending tone, looking far too smug. "You and I both know I'm not going to be stuck here for long. Either you let me go willingly or my people will force you to release me. I'm holding all the cards and you've got no options."

Max gritted her teeth, glaring down at Fallon with all the force of a death stare she'd spent a decade perfecting. She had no answer, no sarcastic comeback, and Fallon knew it.

"By the way… how's your pretty little sister?" Fallon asked innocently. "I heard she got hurt."

Max backhanded Fallon across the face, splitting her lip and Fallon ran her tongue across the wound, tasting blood. She grinned up at Max.

"Abusing the prisoner," she chuckled. "Nice move, 452. Thanks."

Max retreated from the room, anger coiling in her gut and Fallon's laughter ringing in her ears.


	35. Dissention

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **HUGE thanks to Sonam, who is constantly helping me streamline this convoluted mess of a plot into something workable and vaguely understandable. Without her, Whisper would undoubtedly make no sense at all by now.

**Chapter 35: Dissention**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

Alec approached the safehouse cautiously. This one primarily housed transhumans and they, unlike their X-series counterparts, hadn't relaxed their guard in the slightest despite two months of relative peace and quiet. He came in from the rear, hands in the air and in plain sight. Though they'd been informed that he was going to pay them a visit, he found it better to avoid alarming them.

He glanced up at where he knew a surveillance camera was tracking his movements and gave a small, jaunty wave before stepping up to the door and moving inside.

"Well, well… look what the cat dragged in," a bass voice purred and Alec looked to his left just as Gage emerged from the shadows of the darkened safehouse. Alec swallowed down the shiver that threatened to run across his spine every time he saw this particular transhuman – Gage was almost the spitting image of the black-furred panther-woman he'd killed for Ames White. It was disconcerting, to say the least, to be confronted by the male of the species.

"Is Abe around?" Alec asked, figuring it'd be quicker and easier to get straight to the point.

"Depends on who's doing the asking," Gage rumbled, his claws smoothly emerging and retracting from their sheaths. Alec's lip lifted in a half-hearted smirk at the sight.

"Well, could you tell him that Alec's here to see him?" he prompted the feline transhuman. "He's never had a problem with me asking before now."

"I've got a better question for you," a feminine voice rang out. Alec spun around, already half-suspecting that he was about to be on the receiving end of an ass-kicking. Sure enough, Gem stood in the doorway, glowering at him with Eve on her hip. "When the hell were you going to tell us that Brax and Mole _weren't_ killed?"

_Fuck_…

**Sector Nine**

Rand climbed the stairs towards Kestrel's quarters, hoping that his former breeding partner wouldn't throw the offer he was about to extend back in his face. The no-nonsense blonde had a habit of putting him off-balance simply by existing. It wasn't a sensation he was in a hurry to get used to.

So he knocked and the door swung open to reveal Kestrel, her trademark pixie-cut framing her face. She blinked, clearly surprised to find him standing there.

"What's the emergency?" Kestrel asked without preamble, looking at him expectantly.

"What?" Rand asked, puzzled by the question.

"You're not due to pick up Cleo until tomorrow," she informed him crisply, folding her arms across her chest. "So what's the emergency?"

"No emergency," he corrected her, then thought better of it and added, "yet."

"Then why are you here?" she asked matter-of-factly, as if his presence on her doorstep was akin to the Space Needle turning out to be a UFO.

"Are you going to let me in or not?" Rand asked, praying for patience as he stared her down. Kestrel gave him a strange look but finally shrugged and stepped aside. He immediately spotted Cleo rolling around on a bunny rug and hunkered down to lift her into his arms. She burbled and started putting her small hands all over his face.

"Hey, cutie," he murmured, grinning at his daughter with her tufts of soft chestnut hair and dark brown eyes.

Kestrel leaned against the doorframe, watching him in calculating silence.

"Okay, so is this an official visit or are you just here to spoil her rotten?" she asked after a short silence.

Rand gave her a quelling look. "Relax, I'm not here to ruin your morning," he informed her. "Just figured you oughta know that Boyd's position as CO fell through. If you want the job, it's yours."

Kestrel's eyes narrowed slightly. "You're promoting me?"

Rand pressed a kiss to Cleo's forehead before looking up at her mother.

"We thought you'd be the best person for the job," he told her.

"We?" Kestrel echoed warily.

"Alec, Max and I," he clarified, wrinkling his nose comically as Cleo's fingers grabbed hold of it.

Kestrel gave him a shrewd look. "Rand, are you just going along with this because Alec and Max said so?"

"I'm not 'just going along' with anything," Rand assured her. "I put your name up for the position, not them."

Kestrel quirked an eyebrow at him, clearly sceptical on this point.

"_You_ nominated me?" She snorted softly. "Are there drugs in the water?"

"I'm serious," Rand replied, meeting her dark stare head-on. "You want the job or not?"

"I'll take it," Kestrel agreed with a thoughtful nod. "But can you handle following my orders from time to time?"

"As long as they're orders worth following, it won't be an issue," Rand replied and Kestrel inclined her head, understanding the subtle warning he'd just given – that if she was going to do it, she should do it right.

With that, Rand reluctantly handed Cleo back to her mother and ran a gentle hand over the baby's soft hair, smiling down at his daughter.

"I'll see you tomorrow, cutie," he told her. Her dark eyes, so much like Kestrel's, watched him like a hawk.

"Rand?"

"Mmm?"

Kestrel hesitated, then seemed to make up her mind.

"Thanks for being professional about this," she said, meeting his eyes. "Considering our history… that's not the easiest thing in the world."

Rand nodded, one corner of his mouth curving upwards slightly.

"No problem," he told her and headed out the door before the moment could get any more uncomfortable.

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

Max had been staring at the door to the makeshift brig for several minutes, mentally cursing the day Manticore had ever cooked up Fallon. She'd been racking her brain for hours in Alec's absence, searching for an alternative that would give her the win. Anything to avoid releasing Fallon.

Nothing came to mind and her frustration level went up a notch. She was trapped and she detested every second of it.

If Fallon's people approached them again, they would have little choice but to accede to the request. They'd already lost forty percent of support – if they lost any more, Fallon would win her bid to take command of the transgenics and she'd get out under her own steam.

Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, startling Max. She let her breath out in a rush and pulled the phone out, opening it to inspect the number. Krit's name flashed up on the screen.

"Hey, big brother," Max greeted him, relieved to hear a friendly voice. "Everything okay?"

"_No, I need you to check on Syl_," Krit replied, his voice fraught with tension. "_I can't keep an eye on her myself. Not with cops all over the place on transgenic-watch_."

"I thought Zane was handling that for you," Max replied in puzzlement.

"_He was_," Krit growled. "_He hung up on me over an hour ago and isn't answering his phone_."

Max frowned, trying to reconcile such behaviour with the laid-back brother who'd comforted her when the pregnancy-revelation had blown up in her face. "That doesn't sound like Zane. He didn't say anything was wrong?"

"_Like I said, he just hung up on me. He was right there in the goddamn clinic! If something went wrong with Syl, he should have fucking well told me!_"

"Hey, take it easy," Max temporized. "If something happened to Syl, Sari would have given me the heads up. I'll go down and check on her and I'll call you back, okay?"

"_Thanks, Maxie_," Krit replied, a note of worry still colouring his voice. Max smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"No problem," she replied warmly. "I shouldn't be too long, okay? Bye."

Max snapped the phone shut and put it back in her pocket, still baffled by Zane's treatment of Krit. She brushed her hair back from her face and strode out the door, following the well-worn path up to the clinic.

"Sari?" Max called out softly, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible.

The blonde-haired medic's head popped out from behind the curtain that obscured Syl and she smiled rather cheerily. "Hey, Max. Looking for an update?"

"Aren't I always?" Max replied ruefully. "I'm gonna assume its good news since you're in a smiley mood."

"So far, so good," Sari replied with a good deal of satisfaction as Max joined her at Syl's side. "Considering she took a bullet to the head, I'm impressed."

"Can you tell yet if there'll be any cognitive damage?" Max asked anxiously, thinking back to Zack as she stared down at her ballsy little sister, who was far too still for Max's liking. Syl had never been the type to sit idly by and do nothing, even at the best of times. She liked being involved and would always fight for her right to be included. The way she'd dealt with Brax when she and Krit had first arrived in Terminal City was a testament to that.

"It looks like she moved when the shot was fired," Sari posited. "If the shooter was transgenic, that's the only reason I can think of that would have made them miss. Otherwise, she'd be dead."

Max nodded, swallowing down the lump in her throat at the idea that she might have added Syl to her list of lost siblings. Seth, Ben, Tinga, Brin, Zack… she was determined not to lose anyone else.

"The bullet ploughed straight across the back of her skull," Sari continued. "The damage is primarily to the occipital lobe –"

"The area that controls visual function," Max interjected and Sari nodded.

"It's possible that the receptors that transmit information from her eyes to her brain may have been severed," Sari cautioned Max.

"She could be blind?" Max choked out, horrified.

"That's worst case scenario but yes," Sari replied truthfully. "She may just lose some of her vision but not all and her ability to recognize colour might be impaired. That's not to say she couldn't recover from that. We heal faster than you might think. Didn't Zane tell you any of this?"

"No," Max bit out. "He didn't."

"Mmm," Sari mused, her mouth twisting into a frown. "I think you should talk to him. We kind of had an incident earlier."

"An incident?" Max prompted her.

"Yeah, he met Jess and I think it freaked him out," Sari told her, biting her lip. "It was weird. He said he thought she was dead and when he figured out she was a twin, he looked pretty pissed off. He scared Jess a bit. She seemed really nervous."

_Eva_… Max realized belatedly, finally putting it all together. She'd sent Jess up to the clinic as soon as she'd arrived and with Zane checking on Syl periodically, she should have known they'd run into each other eventually. She could just imagine how it must have played out – Zane talking to Krit as he spotted Jess, the mirror image of Eva. She'd probably have hung up too in his position.

If there was one thing sure to pierce Zane's unflappable calm, that would have been it.

"Thanks," she told Sari automatically and the medic nodded as Max fished out her phone and dialled Krit's number to give him an update even as she made up her mind to find Zane and talk to him.

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

Gem advanced on Alec, her moss-green eyes smouldering with anger.

"What, no smart ass remark?" she challenged him.

"I can explain that –" Alec began, taking a step towards her but Gage moved warningly, a mere ripple of muscle and fur, his ears flattening against his head, and Alec halted in his tracks.

_Okay… this is bad_.

Gem was one of only a handful of X-series soldiers who had been fully and unconditionally assimilated into the transhuman fold. As far as they were concerned, Gem and Eve belonged with them. Even Alec and Max couldn't boast such a position. If they couldn't get Gem on side, it was more than likely that her opinion would sway the transhumans in the wrong direction and they couldn't afford to lose any more support.

"We couldn't be sure," he told her, hoping to smooth the whole thing over. "Brax isn't in any condition to tell us what went down –"

"But Lydecker is," Gem snapped waspishly. "He told you Mole was alive –"

"Over a month ago," Alec argued even as he cursed whoever had leaked the news about Deck. "They took Mole over a month ago and Deck couldn't even tell us where to start looking for him. We don't have anything to go on, Gem."

"You still haven't answered my question," Gem pointed out sharply.

Alec gritted his teeth. "We were going to tell you and Shaine together," he replied, summoning up his last reserves of patience. "Things got out of hand –"

"That's gotta be the understatement of the millennium," Gem scoffed.

"Okay, so maybe it is," Alec conceded, "but it's the truth. We made a mistake and everything went to hell. We're not going to let it happen again."

"Is that what you tell yourself about Joshua?" Gage hissed, effectively taking the wind out of Alec's sails. "It was just a mistake? He almost died risking his neck for you."

"I know," Alec replied softly, the blow landing just as Gage had intended. "I'm sorry."

Gem watched Alec's reaction carefully, gauging his sincerity. It was common knowledge that Alec could bullshit with the best of them and was in no mood to be taken for a ride.

"Gem, I want to find Mole," Alec impressed on her, trying to steer the conversation back to the main topic before another vision of Joshua on a ventilator flashed across his mind. "I do but there is nothing I can do about right this second. I'm not psychic. I can't pull facts out of thin air."

"But you are going to try to find him?" she asked, her expression telling him that the wrong answer would get him expelled from the safehouse in a heartbeat.

"Yes," he promised her. "We're going to try to find him."

Gem folded her arms and drew in a long, slow breath as she regarded him critically. Alec held her gaze, unwilling to look away lest she misread the action.

"Talk," she said at last.

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

Jess retreated to the safety of her quarters leaned against the back of the door. She rubbed a hand over the back of her neck, trying to ease the tension in the muscles there. Her eyes travelled to the bathroom door and she almost smiled at the thought of hot water and soap.

Rand had organized for her to have a room to herself on the uppermost level. It was the most dilapidated of the building's floors but she really didn't care. It was private and that was the main thing. She'd have to thank him once she'd tried to get some shut-eye. No doubt he'd gotten a few disgusted looks from those who would assume that he was doing it for selfish reasons, that he would be making a booty call later on and didn't want an audience.

Jess was well aware of what most people thought of her ongoing connection to Rand and had gotten into the habit of ignoring them. She pushed away from the door and headed into the serviceable little bathroom. The hair on the back of her neck prickled in warning.

Jess was suddenly seized from behind and a strong hand clamped down on her mouth. Her hand flew up to her attacker's wrist, trying to pry it loose only to freeze, her blue-green eyes wide as a familiar voice growled in her ear.

"Make a sound and I'll break your neck."


	36. Splintered

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 36: Splintered**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

In the privacy of Gem's quarters, Alec quietly explained everything he knew about what had happened to Brax and Mole. Gem listened in stony silence with Gage and Dalton standing sentinel a few feet away. Only Eve was unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere of the safehouse which was still chilly in the feeble sunlight of early morning. She was perched on Gem's lap, playing with a colourful stuffed toy that had seen better days.

Something he'd said downstairs must have convinced her he was serious because she'd exchanged a solemn look with Gage and urged him up to the third floor.

When he was finished, Gem ran a hand through her dark red hair and chewed her lip thoughtfully.

"So Deck thinks Brax can't be rehabilitated?" she asked grimly and Alec nodded, squashing down the pang that simple sentence triggered.

"He said it's similar to the X2s," Alec replied, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Gem, if there was anything we could do for Mole right now, we'd be there, hands down. But as it is… we're just trying to get everything back under control before it gets any worse."

"In other words, you screwed up."

Alec made a face. "Yeah," he grudgingly admitted. "We screwed up."

Gem glanced down at her daughter before she continued. "The transhumans are swaying between you and Fallon," she told him. "Some of them are looking at what happened to Mole as deliberate abandonment, like they're not as valuable to you as the X-series soldiers. As far as they're concerned, Brax was collateral damage."

"Is Abe supporting that view?" Alec asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"I haven't heard anything concrete," Gem hedged, "but I think he might be."

_Great_, Alec groaned, shaking his head in frustration.

"They're pretty pissed off about what happened to Joshua as well," Gem informed him, "but I don't think that's being used as ammunition yet. They know how close he is to you and Max. No-one would have made him go in there."

"Gem, no-one forced Mole to go after Matheson –" Alec began but Gem held up a hand to forestall him.

"I know," she told him, sighing. "He would have gone just to get one up on the son of a bitch."

Alec's lip twitched at that. She was right on the money – Mole would have jumped at the chance to hurt the asshole that had destroyed Terminal City without any provocation, killing a staggering number of their people. That was just how the tough-talking, cigar-smoking lizard man operated.

"Gage?" Alec glanced up at the panther-man, whose piercing yellow eyes almost seemed to glow. "What do you think?"

"I think you were stupid to come here," Gage replied in his rumbling voice. "Stick to the phone in future."

"Thanks," Alec deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the general unhelpfulness of that comment though he wasn't unaware of the understated note of caution it also carried. Personally, Alec was beginning to agree with that sentiment – coming here might not have been the smartest move he'd ever made.

It seemed to be the story of his life lately.

"Dalton?" Alec shifted his gaze to the X6 who was standing against the wall, watching the scene with a thoughtful expression on his face. The kid looked young – he was only fourteen – but he still had the training and analytical capabilities that characterized the transgenic race.

"Abe's been meeting with his lieutenants over the last few hours," Dalton informed them, letting Alec know that the kid had been doing some spying during his time there. "Vance has been talking to them about what went down last night."

Alec sucked in a deep breath as he absorbed that. If Abe hadn't told Vance to go to hell within the first half hour, that meant he was listening to what the X5 had to say, that he was seriously considering taking their side. It didn't bode well.

"Can you give me an estimate of how much of a foothold Fallon has here?" Alec asked, sharp green-gold eyes fixed on Gem.

"Around half so far, we think," Gem said, shrugging a little. "I'm really not sure."

"Can you talk to them?" Alec tried again but Gem shook her head.

"And tell them what? That you and the others took White' word for it that Brax and Mole were dead? That they were prisoners and we left them there but you're really, really sorry that Brax was tortured until he went insane and started killing for kicks? Ember and Hyde are dead, Alec, and they're not going to let a transhuman death slide."

Alec grimaced at the truth – and the glimmer of pain – behind her words. Mole had been Gem's mate and Ember had been her friend. And Brax… Brax was broken beyond repair, pushed so hard that he'd snapped. It hurt to think of him like that, to know he was so far gone that he'd attack Rand, who'd been closer to him than anyone except Shaine. But worse was the knowledge that they'd abandoned him to that fate.

In a way, Fallon was right. What had happened to Lenny and Ember was on them. It would never have happened if they'd stopped for two seconds to question White's word on Mole and Brax.

"I guess that means I'm paying Wolf a visit," Alec decided wearily. "He was still friendly last time I checked."

Of course, it helped that Wolf had been in on the search for Ember and the subsequent search-and-rescue at the Familiar base. He was just harder to find at that point in time as he'd taken off fairly quickly to do the rounds and check on the rest of his people, housed in various safehouses throughout Seattle.

"Keep your head down," Gem advised him as he got to his feet. He met her eyes and nodded before he let himself out, a cold feeling settling into the pit of his stomach. He was crossing the foyer and had his hand on the knob of the front door when Abe's voice halted him.

"Alec."

_Shit_, he thought as he turned to the transhuman with his customary butter-wouldn't-melt-in-my-mouth smile firmly in place. Vance stood beside him, looking far too smug for Alec's taste.

"Abe," he greeted him warmly, offering a hand which the amphibious man shook cautiously. "How's it going?"

"I heard you were looking for me," Abe replied, studying Alec with a glint of suspicion in his eyes.

"Yeah, I figured it was time I swung by and said hey," Alec told him, his tone holding just the right level of casualness. "With everything that's been going on, we wanted to check and make sure everyone was okay."

"Is that all it was?" Abe asked knowingly and Alec's hopes dried up on the spot. He was good at reading body language and Abe's wasn't all that friendly. Alec let his smile fade, knowing the act wasn't getting him anywhere, and looked Abe squarely in the eyes.

"Can't blame a guy for trying," he declared.

"No, I can't," Abe replied honestly. "Have you found out everything you wanted to know?"

"Not everything," Alec admitted with a small shake of his head.

Abe nodded, holding Alec's gaze without so much as a flicker of doubt. "I think it's pretty obvious what I've decided," the frog-man told him, jerking his head in Vance's direction. "He wouldn't still be here otherwise."

"Abe –"

"Save it." Abe cut him off. "You should leave."

Out of the corner of his eye, Alec saw Gem appear at the top of the stairs with Gage and Dalton as her faithful shadows, observing the scene below in silence.

Alec summoned up a smirk in the face of Abe's proclamation.

"Well, I know when I'm not wanted," he replied in typical cavalier fashion, his eyes sliding over to Gem, who was watching Abe with a hint of consternation in her moss-green eyes. She shifted slightly, reflexively angling her body so Eve was shielded. Her physical reaction was more telling than any verbal response she could have issued.

Gem wasn't entirely prepared to back Abe – not if it could place her daughter in jeopardy or affect her chances of finding Mole and Lydecker was her best hope for that. Alec couldn't read Gage's facial expressions but the transhuman's ears were flattened against his skull, his dark fur bristling defensively as he moved closer to Gem. Dalton stood off to the side, his expression impassive but the tension in his stance was unmistakable.

"See ya round, guys. Give my love to the cubs," Alec grinned.

With that, Alec turned on his heel and headed for the exit, mentally scratching Abe off his list of potential commanders and hoping that Wolf would be more sympathetic to their cause.

_Forty percent, my ass. We are so fucked_.

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

Muscle by muscle, Jess forced her body to relax in his grip, keeping her breathing steady. Her first impulse was to fight back, to remind him of who and what he was dealing with but he had the advantage when it came to brute strength, so she did as he said.

He released her slowly so he could grab her again if she tried to sound an alarm but Jess did nothing of the sort. She tentatively glanced over her shoulder at him, her entire body finally turning to face him.

For a moment, he just ran his eyes over her face, taking in the pale gold hair and blue-green eyes, his gaze tracing the curve of her features like daggers. Jess stood frozen, waiting for some flicker of reaction from him.

The seconds ticked by, each one feeling like an eternity, and then his mouth closed over hers and Jess felt the knot in her stomach tighten painfully as he tasted her. She knew what he was doing but for a few heartbeats she could savour the feel of him, the fierce way his lips caressed hers and the blood thundering in her ears. It had been burned into her memory for long enough.

He finally tore his lips away from hers and he was staring down at her with wounded brandy brown eyes.

"Zane…"

"It _is_ you…" he whispered harshly, his eyes clouding with fury in an instant. He shoved her away from him roughly as if the contact burned. His expression blackened and Jess recoiled instinctively, her senses screaming at her to get away from the source of the danger.

Zane gritted his teeth, torn between walking out and destroying everything in his path or staying and dragging the truth out of the girl backing away from him. With an effort, he turned his gaze back on her.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw your lying ass out the window," he growled, his voice taut with the tension bubbling under the surface. Jess looked away and remained silent, knowing he was just spoiling for a fight. The hush grew and the whole time Zane was just watching her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end but she remained absolutely still.

"How many of you are there?" he asked out of the blue and Jess lifted startled eyes to his.

"What?" She looked completely lost.

"How many clones?" he snapped impatiently and saw comprehension flood her face.

"Just me," she said softly, folding her arms across her midsection. "I'm the only one."

Zane nodded tersely, swallowing hard as he fought down his temper. He couldn't bear the thought of running into any others that looked like her. One girl in the world with that face was bad enough. He still woke in a cold sweat from time to time, the sound of gunfire ringing in his ears. He didn't need any more reminders.

"Jess…" he muttered and she shifted uncomfortably. He was doing it again – rolling her name around on his tongue, trying it out – and it made goosebumps rise up on her skin. "767?"

She nodded mutely, waiting for the axe to fall.

"Why'd you do it?" he demanded of her and Jess's breathing hitched. She shook her head, pursing her lips as she swallowed down the lump in her throat. Zane crossed the distance between them and glared down at the top of her blonde head, his temper fraying as the silence stretched on. "I asked you a question."

"I…"

"Why?" he snarled in a burst of rage, seizing her by the arms and giving her a shake. She stiffened in his grasp, unable to look at him, her long hair falling across her face like a curtain, obscuring her features. His fingers bit into her skin and she winced, not trusting herself to speak. "_Say something, damn it!_"

"I'm sorry," she breathed, her voice breaking on the second word. She turned pleading eyes up to him and with a snarl he threw her away from him so hard her back hit the wall and she stumbled as she tried to catch herself. He turned away from her, hands fisted against his skull as he stalked the length of the room.

The last shred of Jess' pride rose up to defend her and she straightened, flattening her back against the wall. She watched him pace like a caged tiger.

"You played me." He growled the accusation and Jess flinched away from his wrath.

"It wasn't supposed to go down like that," she told him softly, knowing there wasn't a single word she could utter that would excuse what she'd done.

"Then how exactly was it supposed to go down?" Zane demanded ruthlessly, advancing on her menacingly. "What, I was just imagining that you sold me out to Lydecker? _That was a fucking hallucination?_"

Jess bowed her head, her teeth tugging at her lower lip as she dragged in a shaky breath.

"He ordered me to," she whispered lamely, knowing she'd just condemned herself irrevocably in his eyes.

"Yeah?" Zane's expression was glacial. "Did he order you to seduce me too? _'Zane, I've never done this before'_ –"

The sharp crack of her open hand hitting his face stopped them both dead. A muscle in Zane's jaw worked as his gaze met hers, his eyes cold and unreadable. Jess glared at him, hurt and anger and a myriad of other emotions flickering in her eyes as her battered defences started to respond to the overload.

"What the hell do you want from me?" she asked raggedly, praying he couldn't see that her hands were trembling as she went on the offensive. "Fine. I tried to bluff my way out and you caught me. What are you going to do about it? Throw me out the window like you threatened? Give it your best shot. I've taken worse."

It was only when Zane's pupils flared angrily that Jess regretted her outburst.

_Oh God_….


	37. Better Left Buried

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 37: Better Left Buried**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

"I'm outta here," Jess decided in a moment of panic, moving to walk past him but he blocked her path.

"You're not going anywhere," he told her, his stance menacing as he towered over her. "Or do you charge for your time now? What's the going rate for a transgenic whore?" he bit out, his brandy brown eyes boring into hers. Her hand flew to strike his face again but he grabbed hold of her wrist, stopping it in mid-air as he shook his head at her slowly.

"No, no, baby," he chided her coldly. "Only one to a customer."

Zane's other arm lashed out, catching her under the ribs so fast Jess couldn't avoid it, throwing her backward with enough force to crack the plasterboard as she slammed into the far wall. She went down on one knee, winded, while he crossed the distance and wrapped a hand around her throat, lifting her off the floor as if she weighed nothing and holding her up against the wall.

Jess felt her heart racing at his proximity and not in a good way. Her stomach clenched at the realization that he had her cornered, alone and effectively at his mercy. She'd been stupid to provoke him, to start something she wasn't sure she could finish.

"Zane…" she rasped. "Please…"

Zane's jaw tightened as blue-green eyes begged him for a reprieve. Once upon a time, he would have done anything she asked. Once…

His fingers tightened like a vice around her neck.

"Let go of me," she choked out, the words coming out as a gasp as the urge to lash out and get away rose up like bile in her throat.

"What's the matter, _Jess_?" He made her name sound like an insult. "Thought you liked it rough."

The impact of her fist connecting with his jaw snapped Zane's head back and he dropped her unceremoniously onto the floor. She dragged in a lungful of fresh oxygen, scrambling out of arm's reach as he wiped blood off his chin.

"You smug bastard," she coughed out, gritting her teeth. "Do you have any idea what it was like for the rest of us after you ran? Never gave it a fucking second thought, did you?"

"Is this the part where you tell me you didn't have a choice?" Zane asked, advancing on her yet again. This time, however, Jess stood her ground. No matter what had happened in the past, she was still X5 and she'd be damned before she went down without a fight… even against him.

"You want your pound of flesh?" she replied, craning her neck to look him in the eyes. "Come on. Take it. Take a fucking number."

Zane's glare seemed to burn through her and for a split-second she wondered what was going through his mind. She could think up a few choice words that she knew were probably close to the mark.

_Bitch. Liar. Traitor_.

The worst part was that he would be right on the money with any one of them.

"You're gonna make _me _the bad guy?" Zane challenged her quietly, daring her to try to defend her actions.

"Fuck you," Jess growled, hating that there wasn't any heat behind it.

"Been there, done that."

His callous words stung and Jess slammed up the walls she'd spent years building before she did something completely irrational like slapping him again… or crying. Both options were beyond tempting.

"I should have killed you the last time," he growled menacingly, his gaze never wavering from hers as the words sank in and what color remained in her face drained away. The tight feeling in her chest intensified as his expression twisted and every survival instinct she possessed kicked in with a vengeance. Jess lunged for the door at the same moment Zane blurred, tackling her into the door, which splintered with an ear-splitting crash and sent them sprawling onto the floor.

Downstairs, Max searched the corridors, listening for a hint of her brother's voice. Zane hadn't been in his allocated quarters or anywhere else that she could think of. She chewed her lower lip lightly, her brows drawn together in puzzlement. Then she heard the tell-tale smashing of furniture overhead – the floor where Jess had been assigned – and a cold feeling settled in the pit of her stomach as she made a break for the stairs.

"_Zane?!_" Max shouted desperately.

Zane spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor as Jess managed to get a leg free and slam her knee into his side. At the same time, she hit him with a left hook. He retaliated in kind, catching her across the face so hard her skull crashed against the floor and the world tilted crazily on its axis. She tasted copper and lashed out instinctively, exchanging punches with all of her strength until she knocked him sideways and drove a knee into his stomach. Using the momentum to twist and roll onto his feet, Zane was thrown into the wall as Jess leapt at him.

Max got to the top of the stairs and for a second couldn't believe what she was seeing. Zane and Jess surrounded by the broken remains of a door, both bloodied and bruised, both throwing punches and kicks that made her cringe with the power behind them. That split-second was all she allowed herself before she blurred into the fray, determined to stop them.

Neither combatant registered Max's presence until she blocked one of Zane's blows and kicked him into the wall, forcibly separating him from Jess, whom Max shoved up against the other side of the corridor.

"_Break it up!_" Max shouted, pinning both of them with a glare that had withered lesser beings, and though neither of them moved to resume their fight, they both stood combat-ready, not taking their eyes off each other. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Max demanded hotly, looking from one to the other. "Have you two gone crazy?"

Zane and Jess didn't respond.

"Is somebody going to answer me or are you both just going to stand there and bleed?" Max asked, her voice calm but holding an edge of warning.

"Just a misunderstanding, Max," Jess said at long last, still watching Zane warily.

"Right," Zane agreed flatly after a long pause. His eyes slid from Jess to Max. "Just a misunderstanding."

Max held her brother's stare, the sudden difference making her shiver with the knowledge that something was terribly wrong. Gone was his customary laid-back, easy-going demeanor. In its place was something that made his eyes darken, all their warmth missing. For the first time since he'd arrived, Zane _felt_ dangerous.

"Get downstairs," Max ordered him. "Now."

His lips quirked in a parody of a smile. "Yes, ma'am," he replied softly. His gaze lingered on Jess for one long moment and then he turned away, striding towards the stairs without a backward glance. Max watched him go, still holding Jess against the wall.

Only when he was out of earshot did Max release the blonde, who swallowed hard and pushed her hair away from her face.

"You all right?" Max asked at long last, taking in the damage. Right then, the best that could be said was that Zane wasn't in any better condition.

Jess shook her head, taking a deep breath as she summoned up a hollow smirk. "I'm always all right," she replied, echoing one of her brother's most notorious lies.

"Get yourself cleaned up," Max told her, letting the bullshit slide for the moment. "I'll be back, okay?"

Jess nodded mutely and walked stiffly through the now door-less doorway, leaving Max free to stalk after her older brother. She caught up to him on the third floor, her temper teetering on the brink of overload. She barged into the room without knocking and found him leaning over the bathroom basin, digging through a first aid kit to suture a deep cut on his cheek.

"Max," he greeted her coolly.

"What the _hell _was that?" she demanded, staring at him in disbelief. When he didn't reply, she surged forward and snapped the kit box shut, smacking him on the shoulder. "Answer me!"

"Do you have any idea what she is?" he snarled and Max blinked.

"Yeah, I do," she shot back. "She's Alec's sister. Now explain."

Zane looked at her sharply, his brown eyes searching hers for something. He opened his mouth to speak but seemed to stop himself at the last second. He shook his head and looked down at the basin, the cut on his cheek that was seeping blood forgotten as her words sank in.

_Alec's sister_.

It was on the tip of his tongue to just tell her everything, to expose Jess for the conniving, treacherous piece of trash that she was but the words wouldn't come. Four syllables had suddenly complicated everything.

Alec and Max were involved… and Max's loyalties were now divided between her family and the man who would be her mate. It would have been different if Jess were just another X5 but no – she had to be some kind of fucking in-law.

"Zane," Max tried again. "_What the hell happened?_"

"Nothing," he said finally.

"Nothing?" Max echoed, folding her arms over her chest. "Zane, please… what is going on? I don't get it. Is this because of the twin thing? You didn't have a problem with Alec –"

"This is different," Zane growled softly.

"How?" Max snapped. "How is it different?"

"Because it's Eva," Zane replied, his voice raw. Max's face fell, a mixture of bewilderment and sadness flashing across her features.

"You tried to pound her into the floor because she's Eva's clone? Jesus, Zane…" Max breathed, raking a hand through her hair. "If you want to be angry at somebody for twinning all of us, how about getting pissed at Manticore? None of us asked to be created."

"I know that," he said tautly.

"Then help me understand this," Max pleaded. "Why'd you go off the deep end like that? Did she start it? Did she do something or say something?"

_Too much_, he thought, memories rising up from the back of his mind like a tidal wave.

Max stared at him, her frustration building with every passing second. She could understand that seeing the twin of his favorite sibling was unsettling – she'd felt the same way the first time Alec had walked into her cell at Manticore. But Zane's reaction went far beyond acceptable limits.

"You don't want to tell me your side of it? Fine but whatever your beef with her is, you don't come at Jess like that again, do you hear me?" Max told him sternly, fed up with his sullen silence. "I never thought I'd say this but she's had more than enough shit to deal with."

Zane simply watched as Max stalked out, her dark hair whipping out behind her. It was several seconds before he turned his gaze back to the bathroom mirror. Blood painted his skin, gleaming wetly where it had streamed from cuts on his cheek and mouth.

It was a strange sensation – he couldn't feel anything except rage. He was numb to everything else. The wounds didn't even sting.

Jess was sitting on the floor with her back against the door, her legs drawn up to her chest and her fingers buried in her hair. Her forehead rested on her knees as she concentrated on keeping her breathing steady, trying to keep the sick feeling in her stomach at bay. The gentle but insistent knocking finally roused her from her stupor and she reluctantly lifted her head, exhaling slowly.

"Jess? Are you in there?"

Max.

After taking a few seconds to gather herself, she finally got to her feet and opened the door to find the brunette looking a bit uncertain of what to say. "How're you doing?" was what eventually came out.

"I've been better," Jess said simply, the mask slipping into place like a comfortable pair of slippers. Her voice sounded rough to her own ears and she knew what she must look like – still filthy from the night's earlier exploits, her face tear-streaked and now bloodied as well.

"Why did he attack you like that?" Max asked as Jess wet a washcloth and started wiping blood away from a cut on her hairline.

"Maybe you should ask Zane," Jess replied tonelessly.

"I already did. He wouldn't tell me," Max informed her, her eyes following Jess' reflection. She saw the blonde's shoulders stiffen.

"We all have our issues with our twins, Max," Jess said softly, her turquoise eyes giving nothing away.

"Look, Jess… if you need some time… after what happened, it probably didn't help to have Zane throw down on you –"

Jess looked at Max sharply, comprehension flashing across her features.

"Alec told you." It wasn't a question and there was an edge in her voice that hadn't been there seconds earlier. It occurred to Max that letting that particular confidence slip hadn't been the brightest idea she'd ever had.

"Jess –"

"Look, Max… this has been the mother of _really_ bad days," Jess told her, sounding a little bit strained. "So thank you for the rescue but please just go."

Ordinarily such a dismissal would have rankled but somehow Max couldn't muster up any anger. Jess simply seemed too exhausted, both physically and emotionally, for her to anything but acquiesce gracefully to the request.

"All right," Max replied with a small nod. "I'll be downstairs."

Jess didn't move until Max retreated and her footfalls had faded from the stairs. Her gaze was fixed on the mirror, on the face staring back at her – a face that hadn't truly felt like it was hers in years. Golden hair, eyes that had never quite been blue or green… She raked her fingers through her long locks, the dark red liquid from the cut staining her hand – like most head wounds, it had bled profusely.

Moving as if she were in a trance, she reached up and laid her hand flat against the glass, smearing blood slowly across her reflection until only her eyes stood out through the crimson marks. She watched the distorted image as she sank back down onto the floor, willing herself to stop trembling as she rested her head against the cool underside of the basin.

Her hand gently rubbed at the rapidly darkening bruises on her throat. Jess knew they'd be gone by morning but she doubted the sensation of Zane's hands choking her would fade as quickly.

Just one more thing to bury.


	38. Broken Toys

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **I'm sorry I didn't answer the reviews individually this time. I haven't been feeling so hot. I promise I'll make it up to you, guys.

**Chapter 38: Broken Toys**

**Sector Seven, Safehouse One**

Alec had just stepped into the command centre of the transgenics' field headquarters when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced at the screen and his mouth curved upwards at the number flashing up at him.

"Hey, Max," he sighed, relieved to hear a friendly voice. "Everything okay at your end?"

"_For the most part… unless you count morning sickness_," Max replied with a groan and Alec winced sympathetically. "_Don't worry. It's nothing that can't wait until you get back. Where are you?_"

"I just got to Safehouse One," he told her. "I wanted to make sure Deck's still secure. It looks like Abe's a lost cause. I've been looking for Wolf but there's no answer on his phone."

"_Yeah, he lost it while he was helping to dig us out of the base_," Max informed him. "_Listen, I think you should bring Deck out to Sector Three. I'll feel better if he's somewhere I can keep an eye on him and he might be able to help us with Brax_."

"No argument there," Alec agreed. "Has Rand checked in?"

"_Yeah, Kestrel's our girl_," Max replied, "_but now Boyd's dropped off the grid. We can't find him_."

Alec didn't like the sound of that at all. "Does Sari know where he is?"

"_If she does, she's not talking and I can't afford to pull her out of the infirmary_," Max grumbled. "_Look, just get back here as fast as you can, okay? Knowing our luck, things are going to get worse before they get better. I'd rather have you where I can save your ass if that happens_."

"Aw, is that concern I hear in your voice, Maxie?" he teased her lightly and she snorted in response.

"_Don't push your luck_," she warned him but he could hear the smile in her voice. "_See you soon._"

"You got it," Alec told her. "I'm out." He snapped the phone shut and pocketed it, exhaling in a rush. _All right, so I'm dragging Lydecker's half-starved ass all the way to Sector Three without getting caught. This ought to be interesting._

Alec rubbed his hands together and made his way to the area where Lydecker was being held. He nodded at the two guards, Stone and Spur, and briefed them on what was happening. They moved aside obediently and Alec let himself in.

Lydecker was sitting calmly on his chair, his hands still cuffed behind his back. He looked up at his newest visitor, his steely blue eyes giving nothing away.

"Deck." Alec greeted his old commanding officer impassively.

"494."

"Alec," the X5 corrected him. Lydecker simply nodded, acknowledging his words.

"Enjoying your stay so far?"

"Considering I spent the last year or so as a prisoner of a cult, my current situation is actually quite comfortable," Lydecker replied matter-of-factly, as if he were discussing tactics in his office at Manticore. Alec had to give the man credit – he knew how to keep his cool.

"That's interesting considering you spent all those years doing your best to 'mould' us into perfect little automatons," Alec observed. "I'd have thought we were more of a danger. The Familiars only wanted you for what you know. Our beef with you is a little more personal."

"Ah," Lydecker nodded sagely. "Perhaps you're right… but there's a key difference between being a captive of my kids and being held by the Familiars."

"And what's that?" Alec asked calmly, folding his arms across his chest.

"I know precisely what you're capable of," Lydecker replied, meeting Alec's green-gold eyes. "After all, I'm the one who made you capable of it."

Alec almost smiled at the logic behind that statement. The man was right – knowledge was power and nobody knew more about the transgenic race than he did. He motioned at the two guards and Stone moved forward and unlocked the handcuffs. Lydecker gave Alec a curious, calculating look.

"You're coming with me."

"And where are we going?" Lydecker replied with his customary calm.

"To see Brax."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

Rand strode back into the safehouse and was almost immediately met by Max, who grabbed his arm and steered him towards the back.

"I need you to talk to Shaine," Max said softly. "She's downstairs with Brax."

"Did something happen?" Rand asked quickly, his blue eyes clouding with concern.

"No," Max assured him hastily, "but we need to make a decision about Brax soon."

Rand's brow furrowed as the implications of what she was saying sank in. He stopped dead, forcing Max to halt as well. "Max, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Easy," she cautioned him. "I said _we_ need to make a decision. Listen, I just don't want Shaine running herself into the ground, okay? Sway's the only other one there and she's putting all her concentration into keeping Brax under control."

"How long do you think she can keep it up?" Rand asked, his mind quickly running through a number of possible scenarios.

"I don't know," Max shrugged, her dark eyes shadowed with worry. "I don't want to risk burning her out. She's the only psionic we've got."

"Can we sedate him again?"

"I'd rather conserve the supplies if we can," Max told him honestly. "Medical supplies are stretched as it is. I called Alec and he's bringing Deck back here. He's got more experience with this kind of thing than anyone. Maybe he can help."

"All right," Rand sighed. "I'll handle Shaine."

"Thanks," Max replied with a half-smile.

Rand rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and headed down to where he knew Brax was being held. Sure enough, Shaine was sitting closer than he was entirely comfortable with.

"Shaine?" he said softly, reaching out to touch her on the shoulder. Brax's brown eyes blazed, a low growl issuing from his throat. Sway immediately hushed him and the tension drained out of his body until he was lying limply on the floor again. Shaine glanced up at Rand and then back at Brax, cautiously getting to her feet before she followed Rand out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, searching her eyes. She pursed her lips and shook her head mutely. Without another word, Rand pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

Shaine buried her head in his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut. "He's such a mess…" she breathed.

"I know," he murmured against her hair. "I'm so sorry."

"What for?" she asked brokenly, sniffing as she let go of him. "You weren't the one who tortured him."

Rand didn't know what to say to that. She was right but he still felt responsible. Like everyone else, he'd believed that White had killed Brax and Mole. Not that he'd been in any condition to do anything about it at the time – he still had a few scars to testify to that fact – but he couldn't help thinking that he could have done _something_.

Anything.

"He hasn't moved much," Shaine told him, chewing her lower lip. "Sway doesn't want to risk loosening her grip on him in case he gets violent again."

Rand could understand that. Too many lives had already been lost in one night.

"I'm starting to wonder if Deck's right," Rand confessed quietly. "Maybe he can't come back from this."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she bit out, her voice tight as she glared at him.

"Shaine… he killed Ember."

"But… he _knows_ me," Shaine argued. "He recognizes me. That's why he attacked you before –"

"We don't know what's going on in his head right now," Rand pointed out, knowing he wasn't going to be her favorite person for saying it. "Even if you're right… it might not mean anything."

Shaine looked at him sharply, her dark eyes sparking with anger. "Don't," she snapped. "Don't you dare!"

"I'm just trying to be realistic. You think I like seeing him like this?" Rand demanded, his voice raw as he gestured towards the door that separated them from Brax. "That's _not_ Brax."

"How the hell would you know?" Shaine shot back. "You haven't even spent two minutes with him since we found him!"

"No, he was too busy trying to rip my arm off," Rand snapped. "Our Brax would never have done that. _Never_."

"He was just trying to protect me," Shaine insisted. "You had me locked up against the wall. How did you expect him to react?"

"I don't know," Rand said helplessly, sounding utterly defeated. "Okay? I don't know." He started pacing restlessly. "I saw the place where they kept him. They strung him up like an animal…" He broke off, gritting his teeth as he looked away from her. "I don't know how he lasted as long as he did."

"Don't talk about him like that," Shaine said weakly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"It's the truth," Rand told her, scrubbing a hand over his face.

Shaine let her breath out slowly and tossed her hair back over her shoulders, revealing dark circles under her eyes. She looked tired and he doubted she'd eaten anything since finding out that Brax was still alive. Sleep and food should have been her priorities, not standing guard over her broken mate.

"How 'bout you take a break?" he suggested. "You really can't afford to skip meals."

"No, I want to stay," she told him, shaking her head.

"I'll watch him for you," Rand replied. "He's not going anywhere."

"I said no," she said stubbornly.

"Brax would say the same thing," he tried again, knowing it was a low blow. Shaine's gaze jerked up to meet his, stung. She knew he was right. Brax would never have agreed with her losing sleep or citing an absence of hunger as an excuse to stay with him even if she hadn't been pregnant.

Shaine bowed her head and nodded. Rand pressed a kiss to her forehead and stroked her hair gently.

"You can crash in my quarters. You shouldn't be disturbed there," he told her. "Fourth floor, sixth on the left. The mess is on the second floor."

"If anything happens –"

"I'll come and get you," he assured her, holding her anxious stare. "I promise."

She hesitated, her eyes flicking towards the door that obscured Brax from her sight.

"Shaine." He said it with enough authority that she looked at him out of reflex alone. "Upstairs. Now."

She sighed and rubbed at her eyes as she made her way out, shoulders slumped with exhaustion. Rand watched her go, grateful that she hadn't been so obstinate that he might have had to knock her out or something. Whether she liked it or not, she needed rest and food and he was determined to ensure that she got both. There'd be plenty of time for sleep-deprivation after the baby was born.

Squaring his shoulders, he re-entered the room where Sway and Brax sat in eerie stillness.

Rand closed the door and made his way over to the other side of the room, seating himself on the floor with his back against the wall. He drew his legs up and rested his forearms on his knees, his blue eyes fixed on the ruined X5 lying across from him. Sway sat cross-legged beside him, staring down at him with the intensity borne of prolonged concentration. He knew the psionics weren't designed to control people long-term like this – they were better at getting people to give up information or implanting instructions.

He hadn't even been sure she'd be able to reach Brax in the first place. A conscious human mind was one thing – a feral mind was unexplored territory.

Part of him still railed against the reality of the situation. He wanted to open his eyes and see Brax giving him that exasperated, half-amused look he got every time he lived up to his name. That had been a long-standing albeit friendly argument between the two of them. Brax had seemed to feel that Rand was missing out by not settling down the way he had with Shaine.

Then again, Brax had always been the sensible one. He'd been the first to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, no matter how bad the circumstances happened to be. His decision to evacuate Terminal City the moment Matheson's first mortars landed instead of trying to fight back had saved countless lives. It had only been afterwards, when Brax, Mole and the perimeter guards were the only ones left, that they'd gone after the General and put him down for good.

It hurt to think about it but it probably would have been better for Brax if he _had_ been killed that day.

At least that way he wouldn't be suffering.


	39. Showtime

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **First, props to Sonam, lakergirl08 and Sakuraakira for kicking my ass about getting this written. Second, I'm planning a BIS ficlet in response to a challenge I found and I'm asking for reader votes, so head over to my LJ and check it out (link in my profile!).

**Chapter 39: Showtime**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

Max knew the moment she heard the knock on the door that it was bad news. She didn't know how she knew – she just felt it in her bones. Whoever was on the other side was about to ruin what precious little was left of her good mood.

It wasn't much but she'd been hoping to at least hold onto it until the morning sickness faded. It was the only thing keeping her from staying right there, lying bonelessly on the floor with her head over the toilet bowl and ignoring the rest of the world. She hated feeling nauseous. Seizure migraines? No problem. She was used to them. Her stomach rebelling on a daily basis? Definitely not an experience she wanted to repeat.

She pursed her lips as another wave washed over her and swallowed hard, thankful that she'd eaten early so her body had a chance to digest something before she heaved it up.

_Never, ever again_, she promised herself. _One kid. That's the limit_. _I'll find a transgenic-strength heat-proof contraceptive even if it kills me_.

The knocking started again and Max groaned, dragging herself up. "Just a sec," she called out and rinsed her mouth out with water. She ran her tongue over her teeth, yearning for her toothbrush, and answered the door.

She opened it to find Jag standing on the threshold, looking royally pissed off.

"What is it?" she asked instantly.

"You've got visitors," he told her. "Vance, Abe… and Boyd."

_I knew it_, Max fumed. _I just knew it!_ She reached out to grab her jacket and stepped out, slipping her arms into the sleeves as she did so. "All right, let's get this bitch over with. Go down to the basement and get Rand."

"Yes, ma'am… uh, Max," Jag replied with a nod.

Max all but slammed the door behind her, stalking down to the ground floor.

Rand heard Jag coming long before he knocked on the door-frame and met him on the threshold.

"You've got to get upstairs, Boss," Jag told him.

"Why? What happened?"

"Fallon's boys are back," the X5 replied and Rand's expression darkened. He grabbed Jag by the collar and hauled him into the room.

"Stay here with Brax," Rand ordered him. "If anything happens to him while I'm gone, I'll take it out on your hide. Understood?"

Jag nodded hastily.

"Good," Rand replied and released him, immediately jogging up the stairs. Max met him the moment he emerged from the basement, her dark eyes smoldering with impatience.

"Jag gave you the heads up?" he asked.

"Uhuh," Max nodded, glancing around furtively as she kept her voice low. "How screwed do you think we are?"

"Considering how much support they have? Pretty screwed," Rand replied in the same soft tone. "Fallon's gonna walk no matter how we play this."

"Well, I've got dibs on Boyd. I want his backstabbing ass on a plate," Max growled.

Rand blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The bastard flipped on us," Max informed him. "He's in there with Vance and Abe. What do you want to bet that he messed everything up while we were gone on purpose?"

Rand's jaw tightened as he connected the dots. "I'll kill him…"

"Not if I get there first," Max corrected him, her tone ominous, and Rand felt an involuntary stab of pity for the transgenic male in question. She let her breath out in a rush and flicked her hair back over her shoulders, schooling her features into a picture of sarcastic enthusiasm.

"Ready to go and be completely undermined while Fallon dances her way out the door?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm packing. I could shoot her for you," Rand offered and Max half-suspected he was serious.

"Thanks for the offer but as much as I'd love to see that girl get run over by a truck and ground into the bitumen, that would kind of defeat the whole point of this place _not_ being Manticore," Max replied ruefully. "We're supposed to be taking the high road, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. A guy can dream," Rand grumbled, digging his phone out of his pocket. "Better give Alec the heads up."

"Let me," Max told him, holding out her hand. Rand surrendered the phone without an argument.

**The Sewers…**

"God, could you pick up the pace a bit?" Alec asked, glancing back at Lydecker in irritation. He'd hoped to be a lot closer to Sector Three by that time but the former Colonel was not as robust as he once was and Alec had to keep slowing down.

Under any other circumstances, he'd have enjoyed the opportunity to take his time but now it was just making him edgy. He didn't like being so far from the thick of things.

_Max has definitely rubbed off on me_, he thought ruefully.

"Being held as a prisoner of war is not conducive to muscular fitness and stamina," Lydecker replied calmly, though he was pale and his breathing was rapid.

Alec looked away and concentrated on the miles of sewer that still stretched out ahead of them. It was strange how some things just didn't seem to fit in the world you were accustomed to. As much as Alec resented Lydecker for years of brainwashing and physical conditioning that bordered on torture, he still couldn't reconcile the man who'd ruled them with an iron fist to the wreck that trailed behind him.

Somehow, it seemed wrong in Alec's head. He'd never thought anything could reduce Donald Lydecker to such a state. Now he just wanted the man to get better so Alec wouldn't feel like he was kicking a wounded animal every time he wanted to make a smart-ass remark.

Not that Lydecker hadn't been giving as good as he got in that maddeningly calm manner of his but it was the principle of the thing.

He fished his cell phone out of his pocket as it started vibrating. "Rand?"

"_Guess again_," a familiar feminine voice replied and Alec smiled.

Max.

"Business or pleasure?" he asked with a sigh. "No wait. Don't tell me."

"_Business_," Max replied and he could visualize her grimacing on the other side of the line. "_Looks like our time's up. Fallon's boys just showed_."

"Fantastic," Alec grumbled under his breath. "You got it covered?"

"_Yeah, Rand and I are just figuring out how to do it without looking like Fallon's calling the shots_," Max replied acerbically.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Fallon pretty much _is_ calling the shots already, Max," Alec pointed out. "We crossed that bridge a while ago."

"_Doesn't mean I have to like it_."

Overhearing Alec's side of the conversation, Lydecker watched Alec with a pensive expression on his gaunt face. "Am I right in assuming there's a power play in progress in Sector Three?" the older man asked.

"Shut up, Deck," Alec said, not in the mood for the older man's interference.

"Your opponent's designation?" Lydecker asked, ignoring Alec's warning.

"347," Alec replied sharply and watched Lydecker's expression become contemplative.

"Hmm. A history of excessive aggression," the Colonel mused. "Six rounds of solitary confinement and one round of PsyOps to curb unnecessarily violent tendencies –"

"What'd you expect from someone in Cain's unit?" Alec muttered.

"He chose the name Cain?" Lydecker seemed to consider that. "Appropriate, I suppose."

"I never understood why you promoted him to unit leader," Alec said grimly, shaking his head. "He was a butcher."

"He served his purpose," Lydecker replied calmly. "Just like his unit did."

"Yeah, if you want to kill everything within a one mile radius," Alec shot back.

"They were soldiers," Lydecker shrugged slightly. "They followed orders."

"So do attack dogs but at least their owners muzzle them."

"_Alec_."

At the sound of Max's voice, he glanced down at the phone he still held in his hand, belatedly realizing that she and Rand were still on the line and had heard the entire conversation. He held it up to his ear, grimacing sheepishly.

"Hey, Max."

"_Are you two done or can we get back on track?_" she asked with some asperity.

"Yeah," Alec grunted, clearing his throat. "Sorry."

"_We just wanted to let you know what was going on before you got back_," Rand chimed in. "_Fallon will probably be long gone_."

"Just give me a ball-park estimate of how ridiculous we're going to look when this is over so I can brace myself," Alec deadpanned, shaking his head.

"State your terms," Lydecker advised. "If you allow them to make demands, it becomes a negotiation. Fallon is a prisoner of war and you can set conditions upon her release. Don't weaken your position. I taught you better than that."

Alec shot his former commanding officer a quelling look, resenting the fact that what the man was saying made a lot of sense.

"_He's right_," Rand grudgingly admitted in the background, echoing Alec's thoughts. Max remained silent but Alec could easily picture her making a face at the prospect of following Lydecker's advice. The man was a physical wreck but a year in an underground cell clearly hadn't dulled his ability to think strategically.

"Fine," Alec said, wondering if he sounded like a petulant six-year-old as he said it.

"_Talk to you later, okay?_" Max sighed and Alec nodded, raising his eyes towards the ceiling.

Whoever was up there must really hate them.

"Sure."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

"Let's get this over with," Rand sighed as he ended the call.

Max gave him a commiserating look and the two X5s stalked to the room where the three lieutenants had been escorted by Jag and a few other stern-faced soldiers. Vaughn and Spur, standing guard on either side of the door, didn't so much as bat an eye as Max and Rand walked straight past them.

Max squared her shoulders as their guests turned to face them and Boyd drew her attention like a magnet.

"You son of a bitch," she bit out angrily. "You've got a lot of nerve."

"You gonna kiss your baby with that mouth?" Boyd asked serenely, a smug grin wreathing his features. "Aw, now you didn't really think I was _that_ incompetent, did you?" he chuckled. "You three really are slipping."

Max's jaw clenched as she fought the urge to wipe the smirk off his face with her fists.

"And speaking of three… where's 494?" Vance picked up the conversation. "Interesting that he's not here to defend his territory."

"I can kick your ass on my own, thanks," Max said sharply, eyes narrowing.

"You really want to throw down? Remember, you've got a hell of a lot more to lose than you used to," Vance observed, his eyes flicking over her stomach as his thumb caressed the hammer of his gun.

"Point that thing at my baby and I'll make sure you never have one," Max growled, staring him down with eyes that had darkened to onyx. Vance's gaze shifted warily to Rand, who folded his arms and shrugged.

"You heard the lady," he drawled. "Put it away before she hurts you."

Vance gave Rand a withering glance but his hand moved away from the weapon.

"You're responsible for all this, aren't you?" Max snapped accusingly, staring at Boyd as if her gaze could burn through him. "The safehouse, Shaine, Jett… You did it all deliberately."

"Oh, you're one to talk about responsibility," Boyd sneered. "Being responsible would entail you putting your heat cycle into the medical database and either picking a mate ahead of time or getting the hell out of range for the duration. Refresh my memory, Max. Did you do any of those things?"

"No," Max replied tautly.

"No and the three males in that bar trashed the place, didn't they? One dead, one hospitalized. By the way, Slade's actually managed to dress himself the other day in case you're interested. It's only taken two months to get back a decent level of motor function after Jess caved his head in. Great PR job there, Max. Oh and we can't forget Brax –"

"Brax is under control," Rand asserted, voice cracking like a whip.

"I think Ember and Hyde would argue that point," Boyd replied in the same vein. "And Lenny. And that ordinary from Sector Two."

"Well, as fun as this little mud-flinging match is, you're going to shut up and listen," Max snapped, folding her arms across her chest as she stared Boyd down, determined to retake command of the situation. "And if you interrupt, I'm going to make you regret it."

"You're lucky you're easy on the eyes," Vance decided. "Something's gotta make up for that personality."

Max bristled as Rand's blue eyes narrowed.

"Your brains really are in your ass, aren't they, Vance?" he said blithely, clamping a restraining hand down on Max's shoulder. The brunette sucked in a deep breath and shrugged him off, advancing on her adversaries.

"Get it through your head – this deal is on the table once and only once. You don't take it, Fallon rots in a cell for the rest of her miserable life."

"You actually think you could hold her?" Boyd replied, clearly confident in his belief that she was bluffing.

"I think that if you don't get that smug look off your face, I'll wipe it off for you," Max told him, her lips curving upwards in a feline smile of anticipation. "Now these are your terms, so pay attention."

"Fallon's on probation," Rand said, picking up the conversation. "She does _not_ leave Sector Three. She checks in with myself, Max or Alec at three hour intervals. If she's even two minutes late, I'll nail her ass to my door."

"Graphic," Boyd deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

"Good," Max bit out. "Cause it won't be your ass that nailed to my door if _you_ screw up. This isn't Manticore, so we're giving Fallon one last chance but if she messes up…"

"I'm a real good shot," Rand finished for her.

"You wouldn't dare," Vance challenged them but Max and Rand exchanged a look of complete understanding.

"Try me," Rand replied, his lips moving into a menacing imitation of a smile.

**The Basement…**

Fallon looked up as Max walked into her holding cell, radiating self-satisfaction.

"About time," the prisoner said serenely, as if her breakfast was being served late. Max ignored her as Rand, Vance, Abe and Boyd followed her into the room. Fallon merely smirked.

Rand repeated the conditions of Fallon's 'parole' once more, standing over the X5 female in a manner that could only be construed as intimidating. When he was finished, Max stepped behind Fallon and produced the key to the handcuffs, which opened with a soft _snik_ as Max reluctantly removed them from Fallon's wrists.

"Much better," Fallon decided, getting to her feet.

Fallon stretched like a cat and sauntered towards the door, flanked by her three lieutenants. Max's eyes were practically burning a hole in her back as she moved. Fallon paused by the door and glanced back over her shoulder; dark eyes alight with intense satisfaction.

"I'll see you soon, 452," Fallon said smoothly and blew a mocking kiss in the fuming X5 female's direction. With that, she exited the building with the supreme confidence of a queen.

Max and Rand watched impotently, knowing they'd had no other choice and resenting every second of it.

"How long do you think we have before she moves on us again?" Max asked quietly.

Rand shook his head, his expression grim. "I don't know," he replied in the same soft tone, "but I wouldn't put my money on a long wait."

Max's lips twisted angrily. "We have to find a way to neutralize her. Fast."

"Well, I'm open to suggestions," Rand replied blandly.

"I'm working on it," Max assured him, folding her arms.

**Meanwhile…**

Once they were a suitable distance from the building, Fallon slowed to a halt and turned back to gaze at the safehouse, grinning.

"Well done, boys," she praised the three males who'd accompanied her.

"Should we let them go?" Vance asked, his eyes still fixed on the safehouse.

"Not yet," Fallon decided, her lips twisting into a wicked smile as she turned and started striding down the street. "First, tell me what I've missed."


	40. Once and For All

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Guys, where are my votes? lol. Does no-one want to screw with Logan's head? Check out my LJ (link in my profile) to help me out. Pretty please? And OMG – I cracked 100'000 words!!!! By the way, something weird happened to my e-mail so could the unregistered reviewers please give me your addresses again so I can reply to you?

**Chapter 40:**** Once and For All**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten, A Few Hours Later…**

Alec trudged into the safehouse with Lydecker trailing a few feet behind him, fed up with sewers and former commanding officers and rogue X5 females with their bitch switches permanently set to 'on'.

He was on the receiving end of a several stares as he walked in… until they recognized the man who came in a few second later. The air was suddenly fraught with silent tension as Donald Lydecker followed him through the corridors. Alec caught Vaughn's eye and signaled him to accompany them. The X5's eyes narrowed but he did as he was ordered, taking over what Alec quietly called 'babysitting duty' for a while.

Temporarily relieved of his burden, Alec headed upstairs to the cramped quarters where he stood a good chance of finding Max. He rolled his head around on his neck, exhaling slowly.

It was still early afternoon and he suspected he was going to have another sleepless night. The universe just hated him that way. It was all well and good for a nocturnal to be bouncing around all night but he was seriously going to crash when this was all over.

What he wouldn't give for the ability to make time stop for a while.

Max looked up from where she was staring out of the window as he walked in.

"Where'd you stash Deck?" she asked.

"Vaughn's feeding him," Alec shrugged. "Figured it couldn't hurt to try to beef him up. Maybe he'll stop looking like a fossilized stick insect. I wanted to get cleaned up before I took him down to see Brax."

"I almost forgot how much you hate the sewers," Max mused with a hint of humor. "You didn't enjoy your visit?"

"Hours in a smelly subterranean tunnel with Donald Lydecker." Alec seemed to consider it for a moment as he stripped off his jacket to toss it aside. "Gee. No."

Max smiled in return as Alec sank down into the dilapidated bean-bag, which was the closest thing to a couch that she'd been able to get her hands on. He sniffed lightly and gave her a questioning look.

"Air freshener?"

"Morning sickness," she explained, making a face.

"Anything I can do to make you feel better?" he asked.

"Can you make all our problems go away?" she sighed longingly

"I might need some more time on that one," he told her, making himself comfortable. "How're you two doing?"

"I'm tired," she reluctantly admitted. "Sari says everything's okay with the baby."

"I blew up a building with you inside and Sari says everything's okay?" Alec sounded incredulous. "Either her radar needs tuning or that's one tough kid."

"Our little girl's living up to her genetic code," Max informed him archly and Alec chuckled.

"What makes you so sure it's a girl?" he asked.

"Chicks kick ass," she shrugged, as if it should have been obvious.

"And if it's a boy?" he replied.

"Then I'll love him in spite of his faults," Max smiled.

"Ouch!" Alec said, laying a mocking hand over his heart. "Come on, Maxie. A little boy with my looks, charm and intelligence? How could you go wrong?"

"I'm trying not to think about that," she replied, glancing at him mischievously from the corner of her eye. He didn't reply verbally – he just flashed that quicksilver smile of his and stretched out a hand to pull her down beside him. Max didn't land quite as gracefully as she would have liked and flashed him an irked glance.

Silence descended and stretched on.

And on.

Transgenics weren't good at the whole intimacy thing. Something about living and breathing military discipline and death in one's formative years hindered their development in that arena. A hug seemed like such a small thing to most people but Max remembered the first time she'd hugged Zack, ten years after the escape. For a second he'd frozen, uncertain of how to respond.

"So are you sleeping here?" she asked, hoping she didn't look as awkward as she felt.

"Well, I figured since we're mated, you wouldn't mind if I crashed with you," he replied, grinning even as Max's face fell, uncertainty flickering in her dark eyes.

"Look, Alec, that whole mated thing… I know I kind of sprung it on you, so we don't have to act the part or anything. It's okay."

_Oh God. I said that out loud, didn't I?_

Alec stilled, staring at her in consternation as she shifted uncomfortably against him, aware that his entire demeanor had changed in an instant.

_God, why do I keep questioning this?_ Max thought despairingly, wondering what inner demon kept pushing her to say things like that even when she already knew he wasn't going anywhere.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"It's just that all this stuff keeps happening and we don't get any time to clear our heads in between," Max tried to explain as she got to her feet and put some distance between them. "A few days ago I was still with Logan and you had no idea I was pregnant and now we're playing happy families?"

"Max, you can't seriously be considering backing out this early in the game. I haven't even had time to screw up yet. Don't chicks usually like to build up some ammunition before they kick as guy's ass to the curb?"

Max stared at him, speechless, as he quirked an eyebrow at her, clearly expecting an answer. When he didn't get one, he forged ahead on his own.

"Listen, I'm tired, I want a shower and I'm really not in the mood to play avoidance games right now," Alec told her firmly as he got up smoothly from the bean-bag – a feat no human could have managed – and advanced on her. "It took us over a year to get here, Max, and if we ride the brakes any harder, we might as well shift into reverse."

"I'm not trying to back out," Max temporized. "I just think we should slow down and think about this."

"Max, let me get this straight," Alec sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You spent two days with me writing a whole new Karma Sutra but you're having a panic attack about getting serious now that you've had some time to calm down and think it through."

When Max wouldn't meet his eyes, Alec's lips thinned into a grim line.

"I never thought I'd say this but as fun as wacky sexual hijinks are, I was kind of hoping you were serious about something more meaningful being on the menu."

"I just… come on I haven't even been single for a week!"

"You've been looking for a way out for months," he pointed out. "Max, I don't want us to dance around like you did with Logan."

"Well, neither do I," Max protested.

"Then what's the problem?" Alec replied, a bit exasperated by the turn of the conversation. "I get that transgenics are the reigning champions of relationship dysfunction but this is ridiculous."

"Hey!" Max shot back, getting defensive in return.

"Well, what do you want me to do, huh? Roll over and say it's fine that you're jerking me around?"

Max blinked. "That's not… I wasn't…" Alec just held her gaze as she floundered, not prepared to lift a finger to help her argue her way out. She glared at him, lapsing into strained silence yet again.

The muscle in Alec's jaw worked as he took a deep breath, wondering if this was what life with Max would be like – a constant battle to hold onto her. She was like sand, slipping through his fingers and for the first time, he actually empathized with Logan. The man had loved her desperately but in the end it hadn't been enough.

"How long are we going to keep doing this, huh?" he asked at last. "So what if you hit me over the head with your speech about being mated? Did you hear me complaining?"

"You were freaking out over Jess," Max reminded him, avoiding his eyes. "You weren't exactly thinking straight."

"Is that was this is about?" Alec asked shrewdly, understanding beginning to blossom. "You think you ambushed me? News flash, Max – freaked out or not, I wouldn't have let you bulldoze me into a damn thing if I didn't want it."

Max chewed the inside of her lip, uncertainty still coloring her thoughts. She'd been replaying the scene in her head over and over, kicking herself for saying what she had when he'd been hurting.

"You're sure about this?" she asked tautly, finally looking up at him.

"Haven't you heard a word I've said?" Alec replied, as if the answer should have been obvious to her. "We're mated. End of discussion. Any other issues you want me to straighten out while I'm on a roll?"

Hazel eyes gazed down into liquid brown and Max found herself trying not to smile at the certainty in his expression and voice. It wasn't often that Alec snapped into take-charge mode outside of his duties as a soldier, usually preferring to charm people into doing things his way.

Max squared her shoulders, shrugging a little.

"No, just don't even think about taking the right side of the bed," she warned him.

"I'll keep that in mind once we've actually got a bed again," he informed her, glancing back at the bedrolls that the evacuees from Safehouse Twelve were making do with for the time being. Max made a face.

"I'm tempted to crash with Cindy," she admitted, "but I think that'd kind of ruin the whole lead-by-example thing."

"Sucks to be the leader, huh?" Alec said sympathetically. "I don't know how Brax and Rand did it for all those years back at Manticore."

Max's thoughts returned to Zack and she nodded in understanding. Sometimes she wondered where her brother had found the strength, the will to do what he did. He'd shouldered the responsibility of watching over his siblings, sacrificing his chance to drop off the radar and try to be normal in favor of keeping his brothers and sisters safe. He'd spent ten years in the world living his life for them and not for himself.

She'd never thought she'd find herself in a similar position, trying to keep hundreds of people alive. If someone had tried to tell her as much, she'd probably have laughed in their face and told them to lay off the drugs.

"They didn't really have a choice, did they?" Max asked. "Deck promoted them, right?"

"True," Alec conceded, "but they were doing it off their own backs long before that happened officially."

"We had to sedate him. Brax, I mean," Max clarified quickly. "Sway needed a break."

Alec nodded thoughtfully, his expression giving away no hint of his real thoughts on the matter. "Rand?"

"Down there with him," she replied with a quick nod. "Fallon checked in about half an hour ago. Looks like she's playing by the rules for now."

"So everything went okay with releasing her?"

"Considering they showed up armed, yeah," Max told him. "We exchanged death threats, glares, a few choice insults. You know – the usual."

"What about Josh and Syl?"

Max's expression dimmed. "Sari says Josh is doing really well but whoever shot Syl caught her across the part of the brain that controls her vision. We don't know if she'll be able to see when she wakes up."

"Is Krit still stuck?"

"Yeah, he can't risk coming over here with Briar and there's no-one he trusts to watch her since Ember… well, you get the picture."

Alec nodded slowly. "Fair enough. How long does Sari think it'll take for Josh to get back on his feet?"

"She thinks he should wake up sometime tomorrow," Max told him. "Considering how fast we heal, she thinks he'll be walking around again in a week or so but it'll take longer to heal completely."

"Maybe we should throw a party for the big guy once he's out of the woods," Alec suggested, his face lighting up at the possibilities. "We could invite the whole gang. Dix, Luke, Rand, Jessie, your sibs…"

Max winced and Alec's brow furrowed.

"What is it?"

"Zane and Jess in the same room might not be such a good idea," Max hedged. "They don't seem to get along too well."

"Meaning what?" he prompted her.

Max groaned softly, knowing what she was about to say would go down like a lead balloon. "Meaning they threw down earlier and I had to break it up. They seemed pretty serious about doing some damage."

"Wait a second," Alec said, shaking his head in confusion. "What the hell happened? Did she do something? Did _he_ do something?"

"Actually, I think Zane started it," Max confessed.

"_He attacked her?_" Alec bit out angrily, hackles rising at the perceived threat to his sister.

"I said I took care of it," Max repeated, folding her arms.

"What the hell was he doing throwing punches in the first place? He only just met her. What could she possibly have done in the space of a few hours to piss him off like that?"

Max just gave him a knowing look.

"Don't answer that," Alec grumbled.

"It's not like she just stood there and took it, Alec. She worked him over too. Jess can take care of herself," Max argued but Alec's furious look stopped her cold.

"If she's half as messed up as I think she is that's debatable."

**Meanwhile…**

Rand stared through the bars that had replaced the door of the room in the basement where Brax was being held. The feral X5 was out cold, forced into slumber with the strongest sedatives Sari had at hand to give Sway some time to rest. The psionic's energy levels had dropped to the point where she'd known she was in danger of losing control of him.

Shaine, as expected, had fought the idea of putting her mate under completely. She was determined to find some spark of the old Brax, some glimmer that remained in spite of everything. Rand had finally been compelled to exert the considerable authority he'd gained from years as her unit leader and order her to leave.

She hadn't gone quietly but she'd obeyed just the same. He'd threatened to knock her out otherwise.

Rand was really trying hard not to be insulted by her apparent lack of faith in his ability to handle the situation. He understood where she was coming from but she should know by now that he wouldn't let anyone or anything harm Brax until a formal decision had been reached.

A quiet knocking on the wall caught his attention and he looked up to find Jess walking towards him, bruised up with a nasty looking cut across her hairline and her thumbs hooked into the pockets of her jeans. She looked tired… exhausted even. He gave her a questioning look but she waved it off.

"Don't ask," she advised him as she halted beside him, her gaze coming to rest on Brax. "How is he?"

"Same," he replied grimly. "Shaine thinks he remembers but he's such a mess…"

"Are _you_ okay?" Jess asked gently, looking up at him with concerned blue-green eyes.

"With what?" Rand asked, shaking his head. "Letting Fallon go? Seeing Brax like this? Or Shaine?"

"Hey… come here," Jess said softly and pulled him into a hug. She felt Rand's arms encircle her waist and relaxed into him. He held her tightly, his face buried in her shoulder, dropping his guard just a fraction, heedless of the fact that they were standing in a room where anyone could walk in at any second.

When he finally released her, she gazed up at him with worry etched on her features. "Have you slept at all yet? It's been hours since Fallon flew the coop."

"Couldn't even if I tried," he confessed ruefully. "I've got way too much stuff spinning around in my head."

"You're not nocturnal, Rand," she chided him.

"Neither are you," he reminded her, "so why are you still awake?"

"Fine, I'll make you a deal," she offered, staring his straight in the eyes. "I'll sleep if you will."

Rand hesitated and she just gave him the look that said she's expected as much.

"Uhuh," was her only verbal response. Rand exhaled in a rush and clenched his teeth.

"I don't know what to do, Jess," he murmured, feeling completely powerless to help the closest thing he'd ever had to a brother. She pursed her lips, choosing her next words carefully. It was inevitable that he would be asked the question eventually and she figured it was better coming from her than someone else.

"If it was you in there," Jess began, "and he was standing where you are… what would you want him to do?"

Rand couldn't voice the answer.

"It's Brax…" Rand protested weakly as Jess regarded him thoughtfully for a long moment.

"So ask him," she advised gently. "Stop asking everyone else. Let _him_ tell you what he wants you to do."

"And how exactly is he supposed to do that?" Rand asked a bit more sharply than he intended. She glanced over at Brax and sighed.

"If Shaine's right and he's still in there, I think he'll find a way," Jess replied, meeting his eyes again. "If there's one thing we know about Brax, it's that he's determined, right? He held out two months against the worst kind of torture before he finally snapped. I don't think I could have done that."

Rand stared at her, turning her words over in his mind. On several levels, what she was saying made a lot of sense… but Brax was so lost.

"So you think I should just try asking him?" Rand mused quietly.

"It couldn't hurt," she replied, shrugging a little.

"I guess," Rand agreed softly. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed right.

What did they have to lose?

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked, studying his expression. He shook his head.

"I think you've had enough for one day," he observed, eyeing the cut across her hairline. Jess didn't answer. She just nodded, her gaze suddenly fixed to the floor.

"You know where to find me," she said with a small sigh, moving towards the door. Rand watched her go.

"Thanks," he called after her and she glanced over her shoulder, flashing him a smile.

"No problem," she told him.

"And Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll be asking about those bruises later."


	41. Instinct

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **My beta is on strike so all mistakes are mine, mine, mine…

**Chapter 41: Instinct**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Ten**

"This is beyond idiotic."

Max stalked down the hall after Alec, her temper beginning to simmer. She jogged to catch up with his longer strides and grabbed hold of his arm, forcing him to slow to a halt. "What the hell do you think you're going to do?"

"Zane and I need to have a little chat," Alec replied simply, his tone menacing. He tried to pull away but Max held him fast, not about to be put off.

"And say what?" she demanded, refusing to back down. "I already busted his chops for going after Jess and he'll listen to me if he knows what's good for him. I get that you want to protect her but this is going overboard."

Alec knew he was being irrational but all he could see in the back of his mind was Jess breaking down in the sewers as he'd finally dragged the truth out of her. She shouldn't have to worry about someone attacking her again. He was supposed to take care of her. He'd promised himself that and he'd already failed. Not even twenty-four hours had passed and he'd let her down.

He hated that feeling. It was the same one he'd had when he realized he'd blown up a building with Max inside – the one that made his guts twist up.

He wrenched his arm out of her grasp and reached Zane's door, pounding his fist against the wood.

"Alec, calm down," Max demanded in a harsh whisper. "This isn't going to help anything."

The door opened and Alec was on Zane before the latter could even get a word out. The stealth grabbed hold of the combat, throwing him up against the door in spite of Max's sharp protests.

"Easy, pal," Zane cautioned him, not making any effort to free himself. He'd been expecting such a visit since Max had told him that Jess was Alec's sister – he'd have done the same thing in Alec's position.

Max stood with one hand gripping Alec's bicep like a vice, prepared to intervene if things escalated any further. She pinned her brother with a warning look.

"You have thirty seconds to explain to me why you felt the need to attack a girl who never did anything to you," Alec growled, oblivious to how ignorant he sounded to his opponent.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Zane replied with a slight shrug and felt Alec's arm press harder against his larynx.

"Alec…" Max squeezed her mate's arm. "He can't talk if he can't breathe."

Alec slowly released Zane, who cleared his throat as he pushed away from the wall.

"Thanks," he said softly to Max, who folded her arms across her chest.

"Don't thank me yet," she muttered, taking in Alec's thunderous expression.

"Clock's ticking," Alec reminded Zane, whose gaze swung back to his sister's lover.

"She pissed me off," Zane replied simply, holding Alec's angry stare steadily.

"Not good enough."

"Then I guess you'd better ask your precious Jess, who I'm sure is all sweetness and light, why I felt the sudden need to kick her ass 'til she bled," Zane shot back with ice in his voice, stepping up to Alec and looking down on the shorter X5, who squared his shoulders and glared back. "She's lucky I didn't do worse."

Max gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes, _Way to go, big brother. That's just great. Real diplomatic_.

"As of this moment, I don't care what she did," Alec bit out. "Jess is off-limits. You stay away from her or you'll answer to me."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Zane smirked, deliberately turning his back on Alec and walking over to a foldable chair he had set up near the window. Alec growled deep in his throat and Max scooted around in front of him, a restraining hand splayed against his chest.

"Alec, he's my brother," she whispered urgently. His jaw clenched but he stayed where he was.

Zane leaned back in the chair, his expression perfectly neutral. "Are you Jess's keeper then?"

"She's had enough to deal with, got it?" Alec snapped.

Zane gazed at Alec, seeming to think over what he was saying and glanced at Max, who gave him a stare that pleaded with him to not rock the boat any harder.

"All right," Zane conceded at long last, apparently deciding to keep the peace. "I was out of line. I'm sorry."

Max let out the breath she'd been holding, flashing her brother a grateful look.

"Just remember that if you come at my sister again, you and I are going to have a serious disagreement," Alec warned, hazel eyes burning into brandy brown.

"Clear as crystal," Zane agreed smoothly.

"Fine, are you two done with the macho posturing?" Max asked acerbically, glancing from her mate to her brother with an air of impatience. Alec and Zane exchanged a wary glance but both eventually nodded.

Alec stalked out while Max stayed where she was, letting her breath out in a rush.

"Zane, I don't know what's crawled up your ass but I suggest you get over it," she told him. "You're my brother and I love having you here –"

"But as a leader you have responsibilities and you can't let my shit slide," Zane finished for her as if he was repeating a line from a class that he was tired of repeating. "I got the memo, little sister."

Max nodded ever so slightly, swallowing hard. She hadn't intended to phrase it quite so baldly but he'd pretty much taken the words out of her mouth. It sucked but it was the truth.

"Just steer clear of Jess," Max said softly. "Please."

"I said okay," Zane reminded her, his tone even but there was an edge to it that sent a shiver down Max's spine. "I've gotta swing by Sector Five anyway. Krit's got Diesel."

"Okay. Be careful." With that, she turned and left.

Zane watched her go, his amiable expression morphing into one of cold fury as the door closed behind her.

**In the Basement, An Hour Later…**

Rand stepped into the room that held Brax, closing the steel-barred door behind him. Never taking his eyes off the ruined X5, he moved closer, comforted by the slight weight of the syringe held in his hand. He'd told Sari he'd administer the next sedative dose himself and the medic hadn't seen any harm in it.

He'd simply neglected to mention that he intended to let Brax wake up first.

Rand hunkered down a few feet away, watching his eyelids flutter for a few moments as the sedatives wore off. It hadn't taken as long as he'd expected for Brax's body to burn off the last round of drugs.

Brown eyes slowly focused on Rand, a low rumble emanating from his throat.

"Hey, pal," Rand said softly, not moving a muscle. "I need to talk to you."

Except for the gentle rising and falling of his chest, Brax didn't stir. He simply watched Rand, quietly and intently, eyes glittering darkly. It was eerie. There was intelligence behind those eyes but not the type Rand was accustomed to. It was like staring down a jungle cat, knowing it was waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Can you understand me at all?" Rand whispered, gazing down at Brax with shadowed blue eyes. "I don't know, man… one blink for yes and two for no?" he suggested, knowing it was lame even as the words left his lips.

Brax continued to stare at him, rumbling softly.

"Lydecker's here," Rand continued thoughtfully. "Alec brought him back from Sector Seven. We figured he might know more about where your head's at."

Brax showed no signs of recognizing the names.

"You know this is killing Shaine, right?" Rand asked softly. "She says you recognize her and I want to believe her but you're the only one who knows for sure." He sucked in a deep breath. "Is she right? Did you attack me because you were protecting her?"

Brax blinked slowly, shifting his position slightly. Rand stilled, waiting for him to settle again.

"She's starting to show," Rand went on after a long silence. "I still think she's too thin. She hasn't been eating as much as she should since you… since we thought you died. Sari and I had to get on her back about it. You ought to know better than anyone how stubborn she can be."

Rand smiled sadly, casting his mind back to happier times.

"I remember we were both there when she found out from Sari that twelve pregnancy tests can't be wrong. I thought she was going to take your head off but you were just worried because she'd been giving blood to Gem and we didn't know if it would affect the baby. You promised her that everything was going to be okay and she believed you, man."

Rand met Brax's dark eyes.

"I wish I could promise her that but I can't… and she knows it. I can't tell her what she wants to hear."

Brax just continued to stare and Rand surged to his feet, starting to pace.

"I need you to tell me what to do," Rand continued with a hint of desperation in his voice. "Please… what do you want me to do? 'Cause I sure as hell don't know." He shrugged helplessly, hating the choked-up feeling that was creeping up on him. "Tell me… show me. Do _something_!"

The tension in the air shifted. Rand's blue eyes locked on Brax's yet again and he was struck again by the alien feel of the animal intelligence that inhabited the shell that had once been his friend. Rand started to back up, the hypodermic needle still clenched in his fist.

Brax began to move, getting up into a crouch, a predatory growl issuing from his throat.

"Brax?" Rand kept his tone steady. "Just take it easy, buddy. I'm not looking for a fight." He heard the door at the top of the basement stairs open and cursed inwardly, knowing his little experiment was about to get a whole lot bigger. "Brax, if you're gonna talk to me, now's the time."

Rand identified the voices of Alec, Max, Shaine and Lydecker.

"Come on, brother."

Brax lunged at the same time the newcomers emerged.

"_Rand!_"

It was Alec's voice shouting in the background as Rand rolled through the tackle, instinctively lashing out to kick his opponent off. Brax snarled as Rand plunged the syringe into the feral X5's neck.

The next thing he knew, five feet and six inches of furious brunette was hauling him up off the floor.

"Shaine –"

Her fist connected with his head, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded as he blinked to clear the stars that had exploded behind his eyes on impact. She wrenched the empty needle out of his grasp, staring down at it and then back up at him, aghast. "What were you doing?"

"Talking to him," Rand replied as he pushed away from the wall.

"Talking to him?" Shaine echoed incredulously.

"Okay, so it didn't go as well as I'd hoped," Rand conceded and Shaine angrily shoved him in the chest. "Stop hitting me!" he protested.

"No!" Shaine shot back, shoving him again for good measure. "You deserve to get hit for doing something so stupid!" She glanced back through the door that Lydecker had closed, watching as Brax succumbed to the drugs yet again. "Did you provoke him?"

"No," Rand replied firmly as Alec and Max ranged themselves on either side of Shaine, three stern faces all watching him expectantly, waiting for an adequate explanation. Lydecker seemed uninterested, choosing instead to gaze at Brax through the bars.

"Rand, what the hell was that?" Max asked tautly.

"Jess suggested that asking Brax what _he_ wants might not be a bad idea," Rand replied honestly.

"So you went in there with no back-up? There's a reason no-one around here listens to her, Rand," Shaine snapped. "If you've got a theory about Brax, you should be talking to _me_ first, not her."

"It wasn't my theory. It was Jess's theory," Rand reiterated patiently, "and I thought it made sense."

"We sedated Brax for a reason, Rand," Alec told him, his mouth set in a grim line.

"I know that," Rand assured them. "I figured it was worth a try. Brax should have a say if he's capable of understanding what's going on here,"

"He's not," Lydecker interjected, never taking his eyes off Brax. "Not in the traditional sense."

"What are you talking about?" Shaine shot back. "He knows me. That's a good sign."

"At Manticore it was classified as residual imagery," Lydecker explained. "The X2s exhibited it as well. They could recognize faces but had no way of forming a full and coherent memory of who that person was in relation to them. In cases like these, the mind is like a sheet of glass – once it's shattered, it can't be put back together again."

Shaine's face had drained of colour as she listened. "No," she said, shaking her head stubbornly. "You don't know what you're talking about. He's not an X2. The situation is completely different!"

"The causes were different but the end result is the same. The specialists in PsyOps worked with the remaining X2s for several years. In the end, they were irretrievable."

Shaine surged forward and grabbed Lydecker by the collar with one hand, backing him up against the wall. Max's fingers closed around Shaine's wrist.

"Shaine, let him go," Max ordered, her focus entirely on the angry X5 female.

"You brought me here for a professional opinion. That's what I'm giving you," Lydecker wheezed with remarkable calm considering his position. "I don't like seeing an X5 in this condition any more than you do."

"You can't just walk in here and make a snap judgement about this –" Max began.

"I'm not making a snap judgement," Lydecker replied, managing to drag in enough air to continue speaking. "I was there, Max. I saw what they did to him. I heard it." He let out a slow sigh. "He was almost catatonic by the time he broke."

Shaine looked stricken, hesitating just long enough for Max to prise her fingers away from Lydecker's throat and let the man breathe normally.

"There has to be something we can do," Alec protested but Lydecker shook his head.

"The Brax you knew is gone."


	42. The Ugly Truth

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Info about the X2s was gleaned from the episode 'Pollo Loco'. Sorry about the delay, guys…

**Chapter 42: The Ugly Truth**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

Alec raked a hand through his hair and rubbed at the back of his neck, his brain spinning circles around one subject. Brax's future, or lack thereof, lay in the hands of three torn X5 commanding officers and one distraught pregnant female.

"Rand, he killed Ember and Hyde," Alec reminded his friend solemnly. "He killed Lenny and that Ordinary in Sector Two… and that's the second time he's gone after you."

"I know that," Rand replied softly. "I know he's dangerous. I asked him." He drew in a slow and steady breath. "I stood there and asked him what he wanted… and he attacked me."

"Which means one of two things," Alec surmised thoughtfully, trying to remain objective no matter how much it hurt to do so. "Either he didn't understand and Lydecker's right… or he _did_ understand and he's got a death wish." He tried to ignore the way his voice wavered on the last word.

"We don't know what's going on in his head right now," Max temporized.

"My Brax could still be in there," Shaine interjected firmly, dark eyes finding Alec's gaze and holding them in a blatant challenge. "How do we know that Deck's on the level?"

"If he was trying to buy himself time or get on our good side, it'd make more sense for him to tell us Brax could come back from this," Max replied reasonably. "He doesn't have anything to gain from doing this."

"That we know of," Shaine snapped stubbornly. "He was a prisoner of that cult for a year. How do we know they didn't get him to flip?"

"We don't," Rand agreed, "but what could White's people want with Brax now? He couldn't tell them anything and he's proven he's a threat by killing the ones at the base. He's of no conceivable tactical use any more."

"Unless White wanted him to start killing people," Shaine argued. "Think about it. Bodies start piling up and he can point the finger at transgenics."

"Even if we had any evidence to back that up that scenario, it still doesn't change Brax's situation," Alec replied. "The question here is what to do with him now that we have him in custody."

"You know what you have to do with him," Lydecker spoke up.

"You want us to kill him," Max said accusingly. "Kill Brax."

"The reality is that if you don't, you'll have to keep him down here indefinitely," Lydecker informed her. "He'll be locked up for the rest of his life; a danger to everyone who approaches him."

"We can control him," Max argued. "We have so far."

"But for how long?" Lydecker asked reasonably. "The only reason he's been controllable thus far is because you've kept him sedated or assigned a psionic to force his compliance. Those two options are not viable in the long term. Sway could burn out and you have a limited amount of sedative which you can't realistically keep wasting on Brax when your medics should be stockpiling it."

"We can reinforce the room. We don't have to keep him under and we can get Sway to work with him slowly."

"He's killed four people in Seattle so far, Max – three of them transgenics. He has no concept of right and wrong or that you're trying to help him. He perceives everything and everyone around him as a threat because that has been his reality for the last two months. Unless you have a concrete cell with a six-inch-thick steel door, a muzzle and restraints, it's not going to hold him. We were forced to learn that the hard way at Manticore."

"By locking your X2s in the basement?" Max asked with a distinct edge to her voice. "Why didn't you put them down if they were animals like you say?"

"We did," Lydecker replied evenly. "Or to be more accurate, I did. All but four were destroyed. The rest remained under observation… until Renfro cauterized the site."

Max didn't reply though she shifted uncomfortably.

"From what I understand, you unlocked all doors throughout the facility. Is this correct?" Lydecker asked shrewdly. Max's expression hardened as the implications unfolded. "Exactly," he continued. "There was more locked up on that base than transhumans and transgenics. You have no idea what you released that night, Max."

"Brax isn't like that," Shaine protested weakly.

"Are you going to clean up after him, Shaine?" Lydecker asked. "Change his diapers? Feed him? Have guards posted outside around the clock?"

Shaine couldn't look at him. She didn't want him, of all people, to see the helplessness she knew she couldn't hide. Not this time.

"It's cruel," Lydecker impressed on her. "Keeping him alive like this is cruel. Max, you saw the X2s when you and your unit were still at Manticore. Is that what you want for him? To be a Nomlie?"

Max's eyes flew to his face, startled to hear the former Colonel use the term her brother Ben had coined.

"How did you know we called them that?" she asked, sounding like a child to her own ears.

"It was my job to know," he replied simply. He turned away and Max felt a shiver snake its way down her spine.

"That's all he is to you, isn't it?" Max challenged him, her temper rising. "An anomaly."

Lydecker's steely gaze fixed on her with unnerving intensity.

"Brax is one of my kids, Max," he informed her. "I trained him. I promoted him to unit leader because I knew he had the potential to excel in the role… and I spent two months watching Familiars torture him until his mind broke and he killed them all."

Max forced herself to hold his stare as he continued relentlessly.

"Have you ever been tortured, Max? The real thing is worse than anything I put you through. I can guarantee that." His voice became softer even as the tone hardened. "They started out using the traditional methods – beatings, breaking bones, burns et cetera. It only took them a few days to escalate things but by then he and Mole had figured out they weren't going to be rescued. Waterboarding was one of their favorites but electro-shock came a close second. Sensory deprivation, starvation. By that time, they didn't care if they got any information out of him or not. They wanted to see what it would take to break an X5 – something even I never did. His voice gave out first. Tactically, that was a disadvantage. At least when he was screaming, I could tell if he was conscious or not."

Rand stood absolutely still, his blue eyes burning a hole in Lydecker's back as his fists clenched at his sides. He hadn't said a word throughout the entire speech but Max could feel the rage rolling off him in waves. Shaine stood mutely at his shoulder, her nails digging into her palms so hard that they bled.

"That's enough," Max decided, her stomach churning at the images her mind was supplying. Her short foray into the realm of torture at the hands of Ames White – the first since escaping from Manticore as a child – had scared her badly even if she'd never admitted it out loud. Reindoctrination hadn't exactly been a picnic either.

"Brax was much more than a piece of meat to me," Lydecker told her grimly. "You all were. I don't like what has to be done any more than you do."

"Says the man who shot Eva and carved Jack into pieces to be studied," Max said bitterly.

Lydecker simply held her gaze, making no attempt to excuse his actions.

"I'll let you discuss this privately," Lydecker decided, his gaze moving from Max to Alec and then to where Rand stood with Shaine before striding out of earshot.

"We don't have a choice, do we?" Alec asked softly, hazel eyes pleading with her to tell him it wasn't true. "Not really." Max wordlessly stepped into him, one hand reaching up to curve around his neck as his forehead pressed against hers.

"I wish he was wrong," she whispered.

Alec nodded slightly, his breathing unsteady.

"I know. We have to put him down."

Alec's words were so soft that Max barely caught them.

"And who's going to do it, huh?" Rand demanded, his voice breaking as he stared Alec down with wounded blue eyes. "_Huh?_ You?"

"Shut up," Shaine breathed desperately. Max could see every word hit Alec like a blow to the gut but he stood there, silent in the face of his friends' pain.

"Me?" Rand continued, hardly even realized he was shouting. "Come on, _who's going to stand there and_ _shoot him_?"

"_Shut up!_" Shaine shrieked at him, brown eyes blazing. Rand flinched away from the sound.

"Rand, this isn't helping," Max whispered, her own voice trembling as she said it though her eyes were fixed on her mate. She couldn't stand the look on Alec's face – that heart-wrenching vulnerability he was usually so careful to hide. Now she'd seen it twice in one day.

Max slipped a hand into Alec's and felt his fingers tighten convulsively around hers, as if her presence were an anchor he could cling to. She gave his hand a squeeze in return and threaded her fingers through his.

Her eyes turned to Shaine, who was leaning against the barred door, her forehead pressed to the metal as she stared at Brax, her long hair falling forward like a curtain to hide her face. Max found herself chewing her lower lip as it occurred to her that she'd never once seen Shaine look so…

Defeated. Broken.

For one wrenching second, she pictured Alec on the other side of those bars, feral and ruined, and a shiver ran down her spine at the idea that he could be taken away from her.

Brax had been free for a year. One pitiful year full of blood and pain and a never-ending fight for survival. One year with Shaine, the spitfire who was his idea of perfect even if she wasn't anybody else's.

It wasn't fair. Nothing about their lives ever was.

With a hiss, Shaine pushed away from the bars and stalked out, shoving Lydecker out of her way as she passed. Max cringed as the door slammed behind her, turning her gaze to Rand, whose face was shuttered. The Manticore mask had finally slammed into place, his look one of stoic neutrality that Max knew was a complete fabrication.

She'd worn that look a thousand times. It was a reflex.

"Rand, I'm sorry," she said gently, knowing that those three words didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of making him feel better but it was all she had to offer.

"Yeah," he muttered bitterly. "Everyone's sorry."

"Rand." Alec growled the reprimand. "You know this has to be done."

"And where does it say that I have to like the idea?" Rand shot back angrily. He slammed his open palm against the wall and Max tightened her grip on Alec's hand.

"What about Shaine?" Max whispered, glancing up at her mate. Alec closed his eyes and bowed his head, his jaw clenching.

Rand moved towards the door, his expression as dead as his voice.

"I'll talk to her."

**Sector Three, A Few Hours Later…**

Zane sat at the bar, staring down into a glass of rum. Diesel was laid out on the floor beside the stool, his tail swinging idly from side to side. The bartender had tried to voice an objection to the dog's presence when Zane had first walked in but the X5 had made it abundantly clear that Diesel was staying and if they had a problem with that, they could give it their best shot.

The bartender had seemed to weigh his options and finally decided against trying to throw Zane out, choosing instead to give him what he ordered and leave him the hell alone.

Anger had always been a problem for him, just like it had been for Zack. Zane was just better at controlling it than his brother had been. He'd learned to move past things he couldn't change… or so he'd thought.

One glimpse of a familiar face had destroyed every wall he'd ever built.

She'd always been his weakness in one form or another and she'd exploited that, using her face to get close to him, to get under his skin. To trap him… and use him to get to his siblings.

Every word she'd ever spoken had been a lie… and worst of all was the knowledge that he'd never questioned her. Not once. She'd had him completely fooled. He'd believed her, buying every untruth hook, line and sinker for five months and _nothing_ had been real.

Not a damn fucking thing.

His grip on the glass tightened until cracks started to creep across the surface and with a grimace he threw back the mouthful of liquid, slamming it down onto the counter as the door swung wide to admit a striking brunette in a black dress that was surprisingly clingy considering the sun hadn't even gone down yet.

She scanned the room and moved unerringly in his direction.

Zane glanced at the woman who halted beside him, putting a name to a face quickly enough. He'd seen her at the safehouse before the police had descended on them. He had to admit that she lived up to the X5 standard of beauty with a mass of ebony hair and bronzed skin that spoke of heavy Hispanic influence in her genetic cocktail.

"I'm Fallon," she introduced herself.

"I know who you are," Zane told her coolly, turning back to his drink as a tiny smile played at the corner of her mouth. She leaned closer, her lips brushing his ear.

"Good," she murmured as Zane turned to look at her again, fixing her with a steely glare.

"What do you want?"

Her smile widened, taking on a tantalizingly wicked quality as she met his gaze.

"I think we have something in common."


	43. Mercy

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Thank you to those who pointed out that I updated this with the wrong document. My head hit the desk with a resounding thump to say the least.

**Chapter 43: Mercy**

**Sector Three, A Random Bar…**

Through the gentle smoky haze swirling through the bar, Zane regarded Fallon with veiled curiosity, his eyes taking the time to lazily wander over her. Fallon simply waited for him to finish his appraisal, her dark eyes fixed on his face.

"Something in common, huh?" he mused with a half-hearted smirk, turning his glass slowly on the bar counter. "And what exactly would that be?"

"An intense dislike for a certain someone," she replied, her lips curving upward at the corners as she leaned into him yet again, her lips skimming his earlobe. "Does the name 'Jess' ring any bells?"

She felt him tense and smiled, satisfied that she had his undivided attention. Brandy brown eyes hardened as they rested on her. To anyone else in the vicinity, nothing seemed amiss – they were just a guy and a girl talking. Only she was close enough to know the truth.

"What do you know about it?" Zane asked, his tone glacial.

"I know you got angry when you first saw her," Fallon informed him smoothly, "and that you got busted for kicking her ass all over the top floor. Not exactly the actions of a man who enjoys her company."

"What's it to you?" he said, watching her carefully. Mindful of the fact that they weren't alone in the bar, Fallon moved closer and pressed up against him, her fingers skimming over his barcode.

"What if I could help you settle whatever beef you have with her?" Fallon said enticingly. "That's a better offer than you got from your sister or Alec if I'm not mistaken."

Zane chuckled softly, darkly and shook his head. "Not interested."

"I'm not asking you to move against your sister," Fallon clarified, sensing that was a line he wouldn't cross. "All I want is to give you a chance to even the score with no-one the wiser."

Zane seemed to mull this over for a moment before taking a swallow of his drink and setting it down again to meet her enigmatic gaze.

The chance to lash out without interference. To punish her for every lie, every fake smile. To hurt her like she'd hurt him when she'd betrayed him, practically handing him over to Lydecker on a silver platter.

"I'm listening."

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

Rand found Shaine sitting on the back doorstep of the building, her head buried in her hands as she dragged in long, slow breaths to try to calm down. He approached slowly but not silently from behind, deliberately letting her know he was there before he reached her side.

Sure enough, she sniffed harshly and pushed her hair away from her face, wiping at her eyes swiftly. He gave her a few moments before he sat down beside her and looked over at her. She was a mess, her dark hair wild and her eyes red from crying.

"I'm sorry," he whispered gently, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.

"Don't," she said harshly, shaking her head stubbornly. "Just don't."

"Don't what?" he challenged her, knowing it was cruel but necessary. "Don't be realistic about this?"

"They're sitting down there talking about putting him down," Shaine spat, her voice shaking. "Like he's an animal instead of an X5."

"They don't mean it like that and you know it," Rand impressed on her, keeping his tone soft.

"I can't believe you're defending them," she snapped, eyes blazing as she shoved away from him.

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asked. "You think I'm taking their side instead of yours?"

"Aren't you?" she shot back angrily.

"Shaine, this has to be done," Rand told her carefully.

"No."

"Shaine –"

"NO!"

Rand bowed his head, summoning up every last vestige of patience he had left. He was angry and hurting and frustrated and he wanted to punch something but taking it out on her wasn't going to do anyone a damn bit of good. He couldn't blame her for resisting the inevitable.

Brax mattered to him too, no matter what doubts she might be harboring on that score right then.

"If that was you in there," he began gingerly, "would you want to live like that?"

Shaine closed her eyes, pursing her lips as a shiver ran through her and she finally shook her head.

"Why are you saying all this?" she asked, her expression pleading with him to take it all back.

"Because you and Brax are the closest thing to family that I've _ever_ had," Rand told her honestly, holding her shattered gaze. "I hate this, Shaine. I _hate_ saying it but someone's got to and you won't listen unless it's me. You never do."

"He's my mate…" she protested weakly, tears welling up again. "I can't…"

"Hey… hey…" he murmured, pulling her into his arms. "I know but… this baby is the best part of Brax you have left," he murmured against her hair. "He wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

"Please… don't ask me…" she begged softly and Rand felt her fists clench in his shirt. Her iron will had always enabled her to do anything she set her mind to. She could kill. She could lead their unit while he was in solitary confinement. She could tell him to go to hell when she believed it was warranted. Yet no matter how hard she fought, she couldn't save the one person she loved more than anything in the world.

"We have to let him go," he whispered, his own heart clenching at the thought.

Shaine was silent but he could feel her crying and all he could do was continue to hold her, helpless to take away her pain when he couldn't even numb his own.

**Back at the bar…**

Fallon seated herself on the barstool beside Zane's and crossed her legs before turning to lean against the bar counter.

"So tell me something, Zane," she began, her eyes fixed on his face. "How bad do you want to hurt her?"

"I'm not fussy," he shrugged nonchalantly, "as long as she ends up in the ground."

Fallon's smile widened in approval.

"A man after my own heart," she decided, her eyes raking over him as if he were dessert.

"Not much of a compliment," he observed, "but you've got a pair of brass ones on you. I'll give you that."

"Would you do it?" she asked straight-out. "Would you kill her?"

"Kind of hard when she's got Max and Alec in her corner."

"Not a problem," Fallon replied smoothly, dark eyes glinting with intent. "What if I could arrange for you to have a clean shot at her? Of course, I wouldn't want you to finish the job. I'd prefer to do that myself but you could tenderize her a little bit. Or a lot, depending on how you like your meat."

"Sounds like you're asking me to do your dirty work."

"Would it really be such a chore?"

"Not really," Zane conceded, giving her a shrewd glance. "But what exactly do I get out of this arrangement?"

"Apart from Jess on a slab?" Fallon asked dryly, quirking a provocative eyebrow at him.

Zane nodded.

"Protection," Fallon replied, holding his gaze steadily.

"Protection?" he echoed skeptically.

"Max and Alec are finished," she told him, her silken voice teasing his ears. "They don't have the skills to lead. They screwed up one too many times and they know it. The problem is that they won't step aside quietly."

"So you're going to make them," Zane surmised, shaking his head. "Give me one solid reason why I should think of that as a good thing."

"Would you follow a leader who consistently makes bad decisions that get good soldiers killed?" she asked.

"You mean like Syl?" he asked coldly, meeting her eyes. "Don't think I've forgotten that someone under your command shot her."

"I gave orders to incapacitate, not kill," Fallon replied, holding his gaze steadily. "I've made sure that kind of disobedience won't happen again. All I want from you is your help with Jess, so here's the deal: you pitch in and I guarantee that you and your siblings will not be harmed by me or anyone else under my command. That's a fair trade, isn't it?"

Zane's expression became thoughtful and Fallon waited, knowing she couldn't push him too hard to accept her offer. From what she'd gleaned so far, Zane did everything on his own timetable and wouldn't be hurried.

"Even Max?" Zane asked, turning the offer over in his mind.

"Even Max," Fallon confirmed with a decisive nod.

"That's pretty generous," Zane admitted slowly, gazing down at the glass of amber liquid as he swirled it idly. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," Fallon assured him.

"You need to get one thing through that pretty little head of yours," he cautioned her. "No changing the deal later on. I'm in it to get to Jess and that's it. You try to spin me in another direction, you'll hurt for it. She's my sister and he's her mate. Don't expect any help from me if you move against them."

"I think you're underestimating how badly I want Jess dead."

"Hmmm." Zane seemed intrigued. "The girl seems to have a knack for making enemies."

"She killed my mate."

The words were stark, harsh, and Zane's brandy brown eyes locked onto hers as he nodded slightly. "Fair enough."

"What about you?" Fallon asked with mild curiosity.

"That's between me and her," Zane replied grimly, his tone clearly warning her not to pursue the subject.

"Fair enough," Fallon conceded with a small shrug, echoing his words.

"You have to guarantee Alec as well," Zane told her, knowing he had the upper hand in this negotiation. He was more than willing to exploit that fact.

"I'm already guaranteeing Max along with the rest of your delinquent siblings," she reminded him pointedly. "Now you want Alec too?"

"Do you want my help or not?"

Fallon seemed to consider it and leaned in close, her lips brushing his.

"Are you worth that kind of a price?" she asked in a sultry whisper as a cold-blooded smile wreathed his features.

"Absolutely."

**Safehouse Twelve**

By the time Rand and Shaine returned, Alec and Max were watching Brax in tense silence. It was as if they were burning the memory of him into their minds.

Rand glanced at Shaine, who couldn't look at any of them, and his lips thinned.

"We're ready," he said at long last, the words ringing hollow even as he said them. The whole situation seemed so surreal and he found himself wishing that someone would pinch him and he'd wake up to a world where Brax was whole. A world where Shaine wasn't falling apart under the emotional pressure. A world where his best friend – his brother – wasn't about to die.

"I can't do it," Alec said softly, shaking his head in denial as Max threaded her fingers through his.

"You won't have to," Lydecker replied quietly. "I will. He's one of my kids. He's my responsibility."

None of the transgenics had the heart to argue with him. The idea of being the one to pull the trigger was sickening.

"I need a pistol," Lydecker said softly, glancing at the three commanding officers.

Max shook her head immediately but Alec reluctantly pulled his gun from where it was snugly holstered against the small of his back. He gazed at it for what seemed like an eternity before gripping the barrel and handing it over to the former Colonel.

A single tear rolled down Max's cheek as he mutely accepted the weapon, her brown eyes dark with sorrow. Her grip on Alec's hand tightened and he squeezed hers in return.

Shaine was pale, her dark hair a striking contrast against her skin. She watched the gun as it passed from Alec to Lydecker like a hawk, unblinking, following the man as he stepped into the makeshift cell.

"Stop!"

"Shaine!" Rand called after her but she'd blurred out of his reach, darting into the room with Brax and Lydecker. Only then did she slow, approaching her mate with care. The ruined X5 watched her move closer, rumbling softly, as Lydecker let the hammer drop and kept the weapon at the ready, prepared to shoot instantly if Shaine were endangered.

The brunette knelt down beside Brax, her hand hovering close but not daring to touch even as she longed to card her fingers through his hair, to kiss him or hold him close the way he used to hold her while they slept.

The way he would never, ever hold her again.

"I'm so sorry... please forgive me…" she whispered, her voice breaking with anguish. "I love you…"

Max couldn't bear to watch and turned into Alec's shoulder, swallowing thickly.

Brax didn't stir, even when Rand touched Shaine on the shoulder and gently pried her away, knowing she couldn't bear witness to what was going to happen and live with herself.

Lydecker waited until the two X5s were safely outside the room before he stepped closer to Brax.

Rand sat on the floor with his back against the wall. Shaine was curled against his chest, trembling as Rand slowly stroked her hair, her chest tightening with every passing second.

Lydecker leveled the pistol at Brax's head, aiming directly between the eyes. The X5 didn't move. He just gazed up at his executioner with unnerving serenity.

"I'm sorry, son," Lydecker said softly and as he squeezed the trigger, he could have sworn he saw a flicker of gratitude in Brax's brown eyes.

The gunshot echoed like thunder to the transgenics waiting in the corridor. Shaine shuddered in Rand's arms, letting out a whimper that turned into a broken sob and with tears burning behind his eyes, Rand flinched with her.


	44. Aftermath

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 44:**** Aftermath**

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve, Three Hours Later**

"This is completely unnecessary," Max argued wearily as Sari measured her blood pressure.

"Not to me it isn't," Sari replied firmly. "Either you sit quietly or I strap you down. Your choice."

"I'm fine," Max persisted.

"You're stressed," Sari corrected her, "which is _not_ a good thing for a pregnant woman to be. You need to relax and get a good night's sleep for a start."

"I don't sleep," Max reminded her with a roll of her eyes, wishing for a change that it weren't true. She hadn't felt so tired in years. She was drained, physically and emotionally, and right then she was almost prepared to sell her tadpole of a firstborn for a decent amount of sleep.

"Whatever. You're off active duty."

"_What?_" Max choked out as Sari placed her hands on her hips. "You can't –"

"Don't bother," Sari interjected sternly, shaking her head. "I can and I just did."

"We're already short-handed with Rand off the clock," Max objected, "and I'm not letting Alec handle the night shift on his own. He needs the rest more than I do. He's not nocturnal like I am."

"Yeah and don't think I won't yank him off the roster when he finally shows his face," Sari warned. "You three are past your limit. All of you need a few days off."

"Tell that to Fallon," Max grumbled bitterly.

"So call Kestrel," Sari suggested tautly. "Scuttlebutt is that you recruited her to replace Boyd. Use her."

Max's lips thinned as she cast a sidelong glance at the medic. "You know why we did that, Sari."

"Because he threw in with Fallon. Yeah, I got the memo," the blonde replied, lips twisting. "Look, just take it easy tonight – _relax_ – and if your BP is down in the morning, I'll reactivate you. Good enough?"

"Fine," Max grudgingly agreed. "Are we done here?"

"Medically, yes," Sari replied and then smiled; glancing towards Joshua's curtained-off area. "But guess who's awake?"

Sari's grin widened as the brunette scooped up the gift she'd brought with her, which incidentally had been the reason for the visit in the first place, and brushed past her.

"He's breathing on his own at the moment," the medic continued with a hint of caution, "but I want him to take it easy, all right? His lungs are still healing."

"Sure thing," Max agreed immediately and darted towards the curtains, anxious to see that Joshua was recovering with her own two eyes. She peeked through the flimsy fabric barriers and breathed a sigh of relief when his eyes opened a crack.

"Hey Big Fella," she greeted him as she moved to his bedside and stroked his long shaggy hair away from his face. "How're you feelin'?"

"Hurts," he whispered and Max bit her lower lip.

"I know," she replied in a hushed tone, guilt and sorrow welling up inside her. "I'm sorry."

"Not sorry," Joshua told her haltingly. "Protect Max. Little Fella and Tiny Fella okay?" he asked, his voice so hoarse she almost didn't hear him, and Max nodded, bursting into something halfway between laughter and crying as everything caught up to her all at once. Brax's death, Syl being shot, Joshua saving her life and that of her baby, what had happened to Jess, Fallon taking over… all of it crashed over her like a tidal wave.

"I brought you a present," Max said, trying to smile through the tears as she held up the book she'd brought with her. "It's Dickens. _A Tale of Two Cities_. I was, uh… I was going to read to you." Saying it out loud, she felt completely stupid, weeping like a child at his bedside when she was supposed to be strong for him and everybody else she was trying so desperately to lead and protect.

She couldn't fall apart. Not now. She couldn't afford to.

So why couldn't she stop crying?

Joshua's hand found hers and clasped it tightly, his blue eyes still bleary but full of compassion as they rested on her. Guilt washed over her. She was supposed to be comforting him, not the other way around. Was it hormones… or was she really this weak?

"I'm sorry," she apologized, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "I didn't mean to do this."

"All good, Little Fella," he told her softly and Max leaned down and hugged him as gently as she could, unbelievably grateful that he was still warm and alive and just so… Joshua.

"Thank you," she whispered, taking a deep, shaky breath. "You saved us… me and the baby."

"Alec and Rand get out?" he asked and she nodded against his shoulder.

"Yeah, they got out," she assured him, sniffling slightly. "They're fine. It's you that had me scared, Big Fella."

"Didn't mean to," he apologized, wheezing softly and Max almost laughed at the absurdity of Joshua's contrition. Of course he would worry that he'd caused her concern when he'd been the one who was nearly killed by a few tones of rubble. It was so _him_ to think of everyone except himself.

"You're gonna be okay," she promised him. "I need you, Big Fella."

"Max read," he urged gently and Max nodded.

Making one final effort to pull herself together, Max settled down on the edge of the bed and opened the book to the first page, swiping at the wetness on her cheeks. She took a deep breath and began to read.

"_It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity_…"

**Meanwhile…**

Alec stalked into the room where the last remaining X5 prisoner was being held without a word, the guards letting him pass unchallenged.

Jett looked up from where he sat in a steel chair, his wrists and ankles shackled. A gag had been unnecessary. They all knew Jett wasn't much for talking and that, at least, hadn't changed in spite of his incarceration.

Alec simply walked around him and started unlocking the restraints, ignoring the questioning look Jett threw over his shoulder as the cuffs fell away one pair at a time. Alec walked straight past him once he was done, turning only to watch Jett with quiet menace.

Jett slowly stood up, rubbing at his wrists idly.

"Go and get your son." Alec barked the order. "And don't bother coming back."

"You're letting me go?" Jett asked quietly, his dark eyes fixed warily on Alec, who swung the door wide. "Why?"

Alec turned ice-hard hazel eyes on his former friend.

"Brax is dead," Alec told him coldly. "Now get out of my sight."

Jett's expression flickered, something that looked suspiciously like regret touching his features before he nodded, accepting Alec's judgment without argument. He simply walked past his old friend, listening as the door slammed shut behind him with terrible finality.

**Later that night…**

_Thump_.

The sound of something hitting the floor woke Jess instantly and, mindful of her lack of a door, she immediately tensed, all her senses trained on the potential threat. She slipped out from beneath the blankets and picked up her Beretta as a precaution before she ventured out.

The body sprawled out on her floor was none other than…

"Rand?" Jess quickly discarded the weapon and got down beside him on the floor, hauling him into a sitting position. "Where the hell have you been? I was looking for… Whoa…" she muttered, making a face as the stench of alcohol hit her full-force. "God, you smell like a –" she told him just as he convulsed and threw up in her lap. The blonde grimaced as the congealed mass of half-digested food and spirits soaked her favorite pajama bottoms.

"Distillery," she finished lamely, looking at down at him with an air of resignation. "Jesus, what were you drinking? One hundred percent proof?" she muttered as she stood and pulled him up with her, half-carrying him towards the bathroom. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

He mumbled something so unintelligible she couldn't make it out, even with transgenic hearing, and staggered along with her, his legs so uncooperative that she couldn't believe he'd actually made it to her door.

While Rand continued to throw his guts up into the toilet, Jess hastily peeled the vomit-ridden pajama bottoms off and tossed them into the corner of the shower recess where they could be dealt with later. She sat down beside him, rubbing his back slowly as he heaved, his body shaking in reaction as it tried to rid itself of the toxins. She took the opportunity to look him over, inspecting him for injuries, yet the only thing that seemed to have suffered were his clothes, which reeked of beer and God knew what else.

"You really went out of your way to mess yourself up, huh?" she muttered as he sat slumped against the bowl, groaning as he continued to gag even though nothing else was coming up. She reached over and lifted up his eyelids one by one, checking his pupil dilation. He half-heartily swatted at her hand and she relented, gently running a hand over his short hair instead before tracing the burn scar running along his jaw.

"All right, sit up for me," she told him, giving him a nudge to move him in the right direction. "Whaddya say to a quick shower, hmm? Sober you up a bit?"

He merely grunted in response, beyond caring at that point. Jess just shook her head at his sorry state and got the shower running, letting the water heat up. She threw his jeans and shirt aside and sat him down on the tile floor of the stall, letting the hot water stream over him. She swiftly scrubbed the soap over her legs, ridding herself of the foul-smelling residue before turning her attention to him, lathering him up briskly.

"Jess…?" he slurred, looking up at her with glassy, unfocused eyes, droplets catching in his lashes.

"Yeah?" she asked gently, her palm cupping his jaw to steady him as the water cascaded over the both of them.

"Killed him…" he whispered, his voice quaking.

"No," she replied instantly, firmly, her thumb feathering across his stubble-roughened skin. "You did _not_ kill him."

"Left him," he muttered, more to himself than to her. "Left him there…"

"Hey," she urged him, giving him a shake to try to rouse him. "Come on, look at me. Rand?" He slumped against the wall but Jess's lips thinned and she slapped him sharply on the cheek, making his eyes fly open at the contact. She grabbed hold of his jaw, aquamarine eyes burning into blue. "This isn't your fault, you hear me?" she persisted, knowing it was probably futile to tell him now when he couldn't concentrate if his life depended on it.

"Shaine said… was," he stuttered and the pieces fell into place with an audible click. Jess gritted her teeth, knowing Shaine had probably lashed out at the nearest available target in her grief, but still wishing she could throttle the pregnant female for hurting Rand so thoughtlessly.

Brax and Shaine had always been his greatest weaknesses.

"She didn't mean it," Jess said softly, tenderly. "She's just angry and grieving."

Rand turned his head away and Jess worried her lower lip with her teeth before finally sighing and pressing a kiss to his forehead, heedless of the water.

"It's going to be okay," she murmured against his skin, unsure if he was even listening any more. When he showed no sign of responding, Jess shut the water off and wrapped an arm around his torso, lifting him onto his feet. She toweled them both off and with a shake of her head, ended up digging out a pair of shorts and a tank top for herself and the baggiest pair of sweatpants she owned to preserve what remained of Rand's modesty, which had never really been much but still… She refused to put the beer-drenched jeans back on him after getting him clean.

Half passed-out, Rand didn't put up much of a fight when Jess deposited him amongst the blankets she'd earlier abandoned and settled down beside him. Humming softly under her breath, Jess soothed Rand into slumber.


	45. Heart to Heart

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 45:**** Heart to Heart**

_I'm on the outside, I'm looking in_

_I can see through you, see your true colors_

_Cause inside you're ugly, ugly like me_

_I can see through you, see to the real you._

_- "Outside" by Staind_

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

Rand drifted back to the waking world slowly, sluggishly, his subconscious holding him back from reality for as long as it could. The first thing he became truly aware of was a terrible pounding in his head, like someone had taken a hammer to the inside of his skull.

The next thing he noticed was a warm body pressed against his. He opened his eyes, blinking blearily until the creamy blur beside him solidified into a coherent form. Jess was lying beside him, her back pressed against him, her head pillowed on his bicep. She slept on; oblivious to his gaze as he took in the cotton singlet and pajama bottoms she was wearing, silently breathing a sigh of relief when he realized he was in a pair of sweat pants that, puzzlingly, didn't belong to him. He cast his mind back to the previous night only to find a large chunk of time missing and, finally, the jumble of emotions that had led him to her doorstep.

The raw ache in his chest returned with a vengeance the moment his thoughts turned to Brax.

As if sensing the change in his mood, Jess stirred and rolled over so that she was pressed into his side, her head settling against his shoulder. Rand shifted to accommodate her, his arm coming around her carefully so he wouldn't wake her.

No such luck.

Blue-green eyes opened all at once and he felt her stiffen in his arms for a moment as she realized that she wasn't alone. She glanced up at him and he saw wariness and then memory change the color of her eyes. The tension drained out of her, her heart slowing to its normal pace.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey," he replied softly. "Are you okay with me here?" He was prepared to move instantly if his proximity was making her uncomfortable but she shook her head, meeting his eyes.

"I'd have kicked your drunken ass out hours ago if I wasn't," she assured him, smiling a little. "Besides, you couldn't even keep your legs straight last night. What makes you think I'd be worried about your dick?" she continued with a hint of teasing humor.

Rand chuckled ruefully, rubbing at one of his throbbing temples.

"How did I…?"

"Get here?" Jess finished for him, propping herself up on her elbow. "You showed up at about two o'clock in the morning and threw up all over me."

Rand winced in embarrassment. "I don't remember," he grunted, his voice rough.

"I'm not surprised," Jess replied, quirking an eyebrow at him. "You were a mess. What were you drinking? Ethanol on the rocks?"

"Maybe," he conceded. "Got any aspirin?"

She nodded and got up, padding into the bathroom and returning swiftly with the requested medication and a glass of water.

"An X5 with a hangover," she marveled, flopping back down beside him on her stomach as he swallowed the pills and washed them down with a mouthful of water. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Happy to lead the way," he deadpanned, shaking his head slightly in hopes of clearing it only to regret it immediately as his head seemed to explode in retaliation. He groaned and Jess gave him a sympathetic look.

"At least you don't look as bad as you feel," she told him and Rand nodded slowly.

"Yeah," he agreed softly and Jess sat up again, all traces of humor vanishing in an instant as she threaded her fingers through his, her chin coming to rest on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about Brax," she said tentatively, feeling the tension that ran through him as she said the name. He drew in a deep breath and let it out in a rush, scrubbing a hand over his face.

"I just can't get it out of my head," he confessed, sounding more tired than she'd ever heard him. "I keep hearing Deck shooting him..."

Jess pursed her lips and moved around so that she was sitting in front of him, grasping both of his hands in her own. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling. Brax had been as important to him as Alec was to her. The thought of losing her brother made her quake, deep down in her bones, and she knew that somewhere in the back of his mind Rand felt like he'd failed.

He believed he'd failed Brax. It had been a losing battle but he'd fought nonetheless only to find it wasn't enough. His family had fractured.

"I know it doesn't feel like it… and I know this won't help… but it's going to be okay," she whispered, hoping to give him some small measure of reassurance.

"Why are you so sure?" he asked, finally looking directly at her.

"Because you've got me," she reminded him simply, holding his gaze.

After a long moment, Rand's lips curved upwards slightly as he reached up and flicked a stray lock of creamy hair away from her face. The gesture making her smile a little and he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, holding her close as she leaned into it and he murmured in her ear.

"Thanks, Jessie."

She smiled at his use of the nickname that up until then had only been uttered by her brother.

"Any time," she whispered, pulling him into a hug. Rand let his head fall onto her shoulder, glad that he didn't have to pretend that he was all right, even if it was only for a few minutes.

"So whose pants are these?" he asked finally, clearing his throat as he glanced down at the grey sweats he was wearing. Jess laughed at that, letting him change the subject without argument.

"Mine," she informed him. "Yours were pretty much ruined."

"Great," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Girl clothes?"

"Hey, it was that or sleep bare-assed."

"Works for me," he told her mischievously. "You know I sleep naked."

"Don't push it," she grinned, giving him a playful shove. "You're just lucky I didn't make you sleep in the bathroom where it's easier to clean up after you."

"You _wer_e joking about me throwing up on you, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "The evidence is in the shower if you wanna sniff it."

"I really know how to show a girl a good time, huh?" he groaned as he fell back, mortified. "Could you just knock me out again? Maybe I can forget this conversation ever happened."

"I'll take a rain check," Jess replied, leaning against his bent knees as he stared up at the ceiling. The silence stretched on but it was strangely companionable. Eventually, Rand sat up again and traced the faint discoloration that had been a cut the day before. Predictably, it had healed with incredible speed.

"I heard about what happened with Zane," he told her. "Are you okay?"

"I hit him back," she replied, shrugging as if it weren't a big deal. "Nothing much else to say."

"Jess," he said, holding her gaze intently, "I told you yesterday that I was going to ask about it. Now stop bullshitting. I'm not in the mood for it."

Jess' eyes slid away from his, her expression closing off in the space of a heartbeat and Rand softened as he realized he was treading on sensitive ground. He knew that look – he'd worn it more times than he could count and always when bad memories surfaced.

"Zane had no reason to hurt you… did he?" he tried again, gently this time.

"It doesn't matter," she said with a shake of her head.

"It matters to me," Rand corrected her firmly, recapturing her gaze as he grasped her chin with his thumb and forefinger and made her look at him. "Talk to me."

Jess pursed her lips for a moment, searching his face for… something. Rand waited, knowing that pushing wouldn't do a damn bit of good. Several emotions flashed across her features – hurt, sadness, indecision… and regret.

"If there was one thing in your life that you've done that you could take back, what would it be?" she wondered after what seemed like an eternity.

Brax jumped into his mind instantly, the feel of Shaine crying in his arms slicing through him like a knife across raw nerves. But he knew that it had been necessary, no matter how much he wished he could have switched places with his brother.

"Kestrel," he decided at long last. "I'd take back what I did to Kestrel. At least… I'd take back _how_ it happened. I wouldn't give up Cleo for anything.'

Jess nodded ever so slightly, letting that sink in.

"I was already at Quantico," she began hesitantly. "I'd done a few short-term missions and an undercover op. Then Stendahl shipped me back to Seattle. He said Manticore had contracted me."

Rand gave her a questioning look. "They had dozen of X5s under their command. Why you?"

"Because of who I look like," she continued, swallowing hard.

Rand did his best not to let his reaction show but his mind was already calculating the numerous ramifications of that statement. He didn't like the scenarios his brain was supplying one bit… especially when he knew it was all connected to Zane.

"I shouldn't be telling you about this," Jess said suddenly, raking a trembling hand through her pale gold hair. "You've got enough going on –"

"Jess." Rand stopped her with that one single syllable. He caught her wrist, his grip gentle yet firm, when she would have pulled away from him. "I asked."

She avoided his gaze, her tongue flicking out to moisten her lips. She looked trapped, half-desperate to escape and half-afraid to leave. He could feel the tension in her, the vulnerability that no X5 was ever comfortable with.

Whatever it was, this thing was clearly eating away at her and he knew all too well what that felt like.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered and she finally looked up at him, her trepidation practically a living, breathing thing between them.

"Yes," she murmured, so quietly he almost missed it, and sucked in a deep breath to brace herself.

Rand simply waited.

"Deck gave me everything he had on the 09ers," she told him eventually, her voice low and shaky. "Physical evaluations, psych profiles, heuristic data – _everything_. He told me what he remembered from dealing with them - their names, how they acted, their unit history. Even…" She shook her head. "He wanted me to know them inside out. Especially 766."

The moment the words were out of her mouth, Rand guessed what Lydecker had wanted her to do and he wanted to rip the man a new one for it. Everyone knew that Lydecker's greatest failure and fiercest desire had revolved around the 09ers – the former their escape and the latter their capture.

"What happened?" Rand prompted her gently.

Jess just looked at him, her eyes answering him eloquently enough and Rand felt his insides clench.

"Zane was the mark. Deck had some leads on him." She chewed her lower lip slowly, hesitating yet again. "But he wasn't the primary target."

Rand waited quietly, already suspecting what Lydecker's true goal had been.

"Deck wanted 599," she confessed in a hushed tone. "He wanted Zack. So he sent me in… as Eva. Altered the barcode and everything."

"Zane found out," Rand surmised but Jess shook her head again.

"No," Jess replied, looking more and more miserable by the second. "All he knew was that 'Eva' was sent to trap him and Zack. He didn't know I wasn't her. Not until now."

_Jesus_… Rand cursed inwardly, imagining what Zane must have felt seeing her again. And for Jess, who'd had no choice but to follow orders, to have her past come back to haunt her like this…

"You didn't ask for that assignment, Jess," Rand reminded her but the blonde stubbornly wiped moisture away from her cheeks, her eyes dimming.

"Tell that to Zane."

**An hour or so later…**

"Okay," Alec said, rubbing his eyes wearily as he fought the urge to yawn. "Status reports."

Three commanding officers ranged themselves around him, exchanging significant looks. Max stood to his left, arms folded across her chest. Rand stood to his right, still tired but having the benefit of a solid six hours of alcohol-induced sleep and a stoic Kestrel completed the quartet, standing with one hand on her hip and her short blonde hair spiked up to flaunt her barcode. As it was her first official day on the job, they figured they'd better give her an idea of where things stood.

"Well, don't all run at once," Alec sighed when no-one spoke up.

_God, I need sleep_… he grumbled privately, wishing he could just retreat to the quarters he was sharing with Max and disappear for a while, preferably with said brunette keeping him company. He was running on caffeine fumes and little else. Hell, he could probably sleep standing upright; he was that desperate for rest.

"Jett picked Bo up last night," Kestrel informed them dutifully, figuring it was as good a place as any to start. "He's still in Sector Five but he seems to be keeping to himself."

"All right, leave him alone but I want him watched," Alec decided. "He went to Fallon once, he might do it again."

"I don't think so," Kestrel replied calmly. "He'll stay where he is."

"What makes you so sure?" Max asked curiously.

"He's had time to calm down and think. With Ember gone, he's all Bo's got," the blonde told them. "You know he would never have had anything to do with Fallon under normal circumstances. He won't endanger his son."

"Speaking of children, who's got Cleo?" Rand asked.

"Well, since you were unavailable, some of the other mothers are doing baby duty," Kestrel replied matter-of-factly. "Lark, Talla, Meg… I'd like to see anyone try to crash that party."

"Fine. Moving on," Alec said with a measure of impatience, gesturing for the next item on the agenda to be presented.

"Krit said Zane swung by to get Diesel and escorted him back here with Briar but no-one's seen him since," Max informed them. "That was yesterday."

"I can do some checking around for you, Max," Rand offered, seeing an opportunity. "I'm not really in the mood for being cooped up today anyway."

"Okay," she nodded gratefully and then smiled in sheer relief. "And we finally caught a break. Joshua woke up."

Alec's head jerked up, that one piece of good news bolstering his flagging spirits as nothing else had. Max gave him a warm look and he wondered if she'd brought that up deliberately to make him feel better. She knew he'd been worrying about the big guy. He gave her a grateful smile.

"He's okay?" he asked and she nodded.

"Sari says he will be," she assured him. "She's crashing for now. Her assistants are keeping an eye on Joshua and Syl. And if they're not, Krit is. He's pretty much glued to the chair they brought in for him."

"What about Fallon? What's going on with her?" Kestrel asked.

"Three hourly check-ins," Max supplied. "She's due in half an hour and so far she's sticking to the rules. She's restricted to Sector Three."

"Well, if she misbehaves, I'll restrict her to an ass-kicking," Kestrel replied, her comment making Rand's lips twitch in approval.

"Good to know you're on board," Alec told her, echoing Rand's unspoken sentiments as he gestured to Max and the other male. "These two made sure she knows we'll hit back if she steps outta line, so feel free to follow through. Just give us the heads up if you do."

"Not a problem," Kestrel replied confidently, folding her arms.

Alec and Max exchanged a look that spoke volumes, each of them rather pleased with their newest recruit's attitude. The blonde had a fierce, no-nonsense reputation among her peers.

"You think you can handle this?" Max asked, already fairly confident that Kestrel was up to the challenge but wanting to hear the female confirm it anyway. "Fallon's coming after us big time, says we're not strong enough to lead."

"Fallon wants to preach about strong leaders?" Kestrel actually smirked. "If that woman moves an inch in my daughter's direction, I'll show her what an X5 is really capable of. So are we good?"

"We're good," Rand confirmed.

"All right," she agreed. "See you in eight hours."

With that, the blonde strode out the door, leaving three very impressed COs in her wake.

"Wow," Alec blinked, almost smiling. "Remind me to sic her onto Boyd."

"We could probably sell tickets to that," Rand suggested blandly.

"Not if I get to him first," Max cut them off, the promise of retribution glinting in her dark eyes, and Alec couldn't help feeling a wave of satisfaction at the idea of watching Boyd's ass get pounded into the floor by either female. "You ready to bunk down?" she asked him.

"I could sleep on a bed of nails at this point," Alec replied, more grateful than he could say for the respite. "Let's go before another crisis explodes in our faces, huh?"

"Sounds like a plan," Max nodded.

"All right," Rand told him, giving him a clap on the shoulder to speed him on his way. "Take it easy, okay?"

Alec glanced back at him and nodded wearily, his hazel eyes bloodshot from exhaustion.

"You too."


	46. Collateral Damage

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 46: Collateral Damage**

**The Bar… Several Hours Later**

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking?" a familiar voice asked and Zane glanced up to find Rand standing a few feet away. Diesel snuffled at his feet and Rand shifted, shooting a wary look at the dog before turning his attention back to Zane.

"It's five o'clock somewhere, right?" he drawled lazily, turning his attention back to the half-empty glass of beer that sat on the counter in front of him.

"Have you been here all night?" Rand wondered as he approached and sat on the stool beside the 09er.

"You got a problem with that?" Zane challenged him, an edge to his voice that Rand read easily enough.

"Considering I got myself wasted last night, I don't think I'm in any position to make judgments," Rand admitted. "At least you're still sober." A familiar scent made him frown in consternation but he'd wiped his expression clean by the time Zane looked at him again.

"Was there something you wanted?" Zane said curtly.

"What happened to your face?" Rand replied, glancing at the faded marks.

"I had a disagreement with some stairs," Zane lied smoothly.

"Did those stairs happen to have blonde hair and blue-green eyes?" Rand asked shrewdly, watching the X5's jaw tighten for a split-second.

"If you're here to warn me off, you're a little late," Zane informed him bluntly. "Alec paid me a visit yesterday."

"I talked to Jess," Rand informed him.

"Figures," Zane grunted, his voice taking on a lethal quality. "You smell like her."

"And you smell like Fallon, who isn't exactly my favorite person either," Rand told him honestly, blue eyes meeting brandy brown. He was determined not to alienate the newcomer. He couldn't afford to. "Jess told me what she did to you."

Zane scoffed quietly, never taking his eyes off his drink. "Did she now?"

"I can understand why you're angry," Rand stated, keeping his tone as neutral as possible, "and I know you must want to hurt her for it –"

"Aw," Zane said mockingly. "Am I that transparent?"

Rand's expression darkened.

"I'm not defending what she did," Rand impressed on him, determined to get it through Zane's head. "It was shitty, even by Manticore's standards, but she _didn't have a choice_."

"No, you're right. She didn't have a choice – what she had was a plan and she didn't waste a second making damn sure I'd swallow each and every piece of bullshit she fed me," Zane retorted.

"What, you think she did it for kicks? That messing with people's heads was just her way of getting off?" Rand shot back.

"Oh, I know what her way of getting off was," Zane sneered. "She lied to me for five months and fucked me blind for two of 'em. Guess I was screwed either way, huh?"

Rand's jaw clenched and Zane's eyes narrowed.

"She left that part out, didn't she?" he guessed accurately and blue eyes met brown in a moment of primitive understanding. Zane shook his head, his crooked smile lacking its usual lustre.

"She really is a piece of work," he mused out loud, holding Rand's gaze. "Listen, pal. That girl made me _believe_ she was Eva. I never questioned it. She moved like her, talked like her, knew things only Eva should know. What kind of a cold-blooded bitch does something like that, even if she did have orders?"

"A bitch who knows what'll happen to her if she disobeys," Rand replied through clenched teeth. "You think you've got it all figured out, that it was as simple as trying to cut and run? You don't know a damn thing about it."

"I know she exploited my sister to get to me and didn't give a damn about what they'd do to me or my brother," Zane replied, his eyes hard as crystal. "I know enough."

"You've got it wrong," Rand cautioned him through gritted teeth. "Did you even bother listening to her side of the story or did you just skip straight to kicking her ass?"

"I was raised not to play with my food," Zane deadpanned.

"You listen to me, Zane," Rand said warningly. "Whatever she did to you, it's over. It's done and if you move on her, _I'll_ stop you."

"Well, aren't you just a knight in shining armor? What is it about this girl that makes everyone treat her like glass, huh? She's a fucking X5. Let her fight her own battles."

"I'm asking you politely," Rand reminded him.

Zane regarded him speculatively and then smirked.

"Defending her honour," he said with a shake of his head. "That's cute."

"Her honour doesn't need defending, smart ass."

"Duly noted."

"She's off-limits, Zane."

Zane sighed, staring down at his glass distractedly.

"Why was Fallon here?" Rand tried again, changing tactics.

"She thought she'd try her hand at bartending."

"Cut the crap," Rand said curtly, folding his arms as his eyes practically burned a hole through the side of the other X5's head. "Fallon doesn't give a shit about anything except hurting Jess any way she can."

"Is that supposed to be a convincing argument, Yoda?"

"Whatever she offered you, it's not gonna hold up. She'll screw you over the first chance she gets and it'll be worse for you than anything Jess ever did."

"Worse than almost getting my brother killed?" Zane's lip curled derisively. "Pass."

Rand gritted his teeth, shaking his head as he looked away for a moment.

"My brother died yesterday," Rand ground out, barely able to stomach the words as he spoke them. "He was tortured for information about us until he cracked and started killing people."

Zane stilled, something inside him going cold at the thought and Rand leaned in, enunciating each world slowly and clearly, so there could be no mistake.

"So we killed him," Rand continued harshly. "We put a gun in Lydecker's hand and we shot him… because we didn't have a choice. I would have done anything for him and it still wasn't enough. So if you feel half as much for your brother as I felt for Brax, I understand better than you could possibly know."

Zane slowly turned to look at Rand.

"Killing White won't change what happened to Brax," Rand impressed upon him, "and hurting Jess won't change what happened to you. It won't make you feel better. Believe me, you don't need to punish her. She's doing that herself without any help."

"Is that supposed to make it okay?" Zane asked though his gaze had lost it's hardened edge.

"No… but don't act like you're better than her," Rand told him shrewdly. "What kind of brother sleeps with his sister, no matter whose idea it was?"

Zane let out a bark of bitter laughter. "The kind who's stupid enough to think she actually gave a damn."

Rand's brow furrowed slightly. "Maybe she did give a damn, Zane. Maybe she still does and you should consider that before you get trigger-happy."

Zane's gaze snapped up but saw only Rand's back as the X5 stalked out of the bar.

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve, A Short Time Later…**

Rand stuck his head around the door in the tech centre to find a certain blonde staring at a computer screen with a distracted look on her face, writing lines of programme code with transgenic speed.

"Jess?"

She looked up, smiling a little when she realized who it was.

"Hey," she said warmly. "What are you doing here? Aren't you still on duty?"

"I need to talk to you," he told her, closing the door behind him.

She gave him a curious look but pushed her chair back from the computer desk and got to her feet.

"What's wrong?"

"I talked to Zane," he told her grimly and wasn't surprised when her face fell and she tried to cover up her reaction.

"Let me guess. He wasn't interested in the free holiday," she joked lamely as he crossed the distance between them, her voice trailing off when his expression didn't lighten up at all.

"Didn't we agree to trust each other this morning?" he asked.

"That was the idea," she agreed, still looking puzzled.

"So why didn't you tell me you were sleeping with him?" he asked softly, watching as her startled blue-green eyes flew up to meet his gaze and slid away just as quickly. Guilt flashed across her features, giving her away more readily than any verbal confirmation she could have given.

"You, uh… you weren't supposed to find out about that," she whispered finally.

"Why not?" he asked simply, lifting her chin so she'd look at him.

"I don't know," Jess sighed miserably. "It's just…" She raked a hand through her hair, her teeth worrying her lower lip. "It wasn't supposed to be like that. It shouldn't have even happened."

"So you weren't under orders?" he asked, wanting to clarify the chain of events in his own mind. It hadn't been unheard of for Manticore to take advantage of physical attraction when it existed between infiltrator and target.

She shook her head. "No."

Rand exhaled slowly as he regarded her. "How far did it go?"

Her gaze skittered away yet again and she stared down at the floor. "Far enough."

Which meant, in the emotionally-repressed world of Manticore alumni, that it had gone too far and too deep and ended in a violent, blood-spattered mess that she never wanted to chance repeating. It occurred to him that Jess' old love-'em-and-leave-'em policy had a much more complicated origin than the spontaneous desire to have fun of the no-strings variety.

Fucking Manticore. Fucking Lydecker. Fucking missions.

As if they weren't screwed up enough without adding this kind of shit to the mix.

"Jess… I think Fallon got to Zane," he told her, letting his apprehension show.

Blue-green eyes widened, the blood draining out of her face as she let out a sound that was halfway between a laugh and a sob.

"That's great…" she breathed with a taut nod, turning away from him to put her fist through the wall with a snarl. "_That's just fucking_ _great!_"

"Jess –" He grabbed her wrist before she could strike the wall a second time and pulled her close, ignoring her half-hearted struggles. "Stop, okay?"

Defeated, Jess let him hold her, her head falling onto his shoulder.

"We'll handle it, okay?" he murmured against her hair. "Nothing's gonna happen to you."

Jess stiffened and pushed away from him, glaring at him incredulously.

"Me?" she said, sounding outraged. "You think I'm worried about _me_?"

Rand blinked, backtracking quickly as he realized where he'd miss-stepped.

"Jess, I just meant –"

"You think I give a crap if they come after me? News flash, Rand – that's not how Fallon operates. I don't give a flying fuck what she has planned for me. I'm sure, whatever it is, it'll be a hoot when she finally pulls her finger out. What I'm worried about is you and Alec and Max and anyone else she thinks is getting in her way in the meantime!"

"Jess," Rand cut her off. "Stop. You know that's not what I meant."

"Oh really? Then what exactly did you mean? Cause all I heard was some macho crap about protecting me when she's more likely to hit someone else first."

"It's going to be okay," he promised her.

"How can you be so sure?" she challenged him quietly and he smiled.

"Because you've got me," he replied, echoing the words she'd spoken to him that morning. She let out a ripple of shaky laughter, recognizing his ploy for what it was.

"Yeah, I guess I do," she agreed, nodding slightly.

"See? You're smiling. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Rand joked, giving her a mischievous grin.

The sound of shattering glass was immediately followed by the sensation of a bullet tearing through the air a scant inch from her hip. Blood sprayed across her face as Rand's eyes widened in shock and he fell to his knees. Jess dove for him, hauling him out of the shooter's line of sight, leaving a trail of crimson in their wake.

"Rand?" She shielded him with her body, hurriedly inspecting the damage. "Sniper across the street!" Jess bellowed. "Man down! I need a medic!" Her hands clamped down over the wound in his chest to stem the flow of blood.

"Rand? Come on," Jess urged him, her voice tinged with fear as he started choking, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. "_Rand!_"

With a satisfied smirk, Vance climbed down the side of the building as silently as he'd ascended, the rifle slung comfortably over his shoulder.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Jess chanted under her breath, struggling to stop the seemingly endless stream of blood. "Not you…" she begged, feeling panic welling up as his blue eyes rolled back in his head. "_Please, _not you…come on! Don't you _dare_ die on me…"

Tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks as the first people poured into the room, strong arms wresting her away from him as others took her place.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked, fighting their grip with all of her considerable strength until she found herself thrown face-down onto the floor, pinned down with a knee jammed into her back.

"Jess, stop!" a familiar voice barked, fading into the background as the blonde struggled to keep the dying X5 in her field of vision. She was vaguely aware of Sari blurring into the room, of more people crowding around as the pool of blood continued to expand, creeping out until the medic was kneeling in it.

"Get her out of here!" another voice snapped and as she felt them start to forcibly drag her towards the door, one last scream exploded out of her.

"_RAND!_"


	47. Dancing On The Razor

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Apologies for not replying to reviews. The site's got a bug or something and it won't let me. So sorry!

**Chapter 47: Dancing On The Razor**

_Well, I was there and I saw what you did  
I saw it with my own two eyes  
So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you've been  
Its all been a pack of lies._

_- "In The Air Tonight", Phil Collins_

**Sector Three, Safehouse Twelve**

It was Jess' scream that woke Alec.

They hadn't heard the gunshot, silenced as it had been, but the sound of his sister's voice echoing through the safehouse made his eyes snap open in a heartbeat. He was moving before he was even conscious of _what_ she'd been shouting, Max scrambling to her feet from where she'd been reading reports.

"What is it?" he demanded as they barreled out the door.

"I don't know!" Max shot back, alarm written plainly across her face. They raced towards the source of the cry, sacrificing stealth for speed. Others joined the rush, the transgenics automatically assuming the best positions to augment the defense of their safehouse.

"Jess, stay down!" They heard Kestrel issue the order and Alec's pulse sped up as fear for his sister pushed its way to the forefront. They darted into the room that had become the centre of activity in less than a minute and he heard Max gasp at the scene. Alec actually doubled over; bracing his hands on his knees as he recognized the ashen face of the prone figure Sari was working so desperately to save.

_Oh God_… _no, no, no_, _not again! Not him!_

"What the hell happened?" Alec breathed, feeling sick as he saw the amount of blood coagulating on the floor.

"Ask her," Stone replied, nodding at something over Alec's shoulder.

He turned to find Jess crouched in the corner, staring at the scene with ice-cold eyes, her face sprayed with blood and her arms and clothes soaked in it. Kestrel stood beside her, her dark eyes unreadable as she met Alec's gaze.

"She wasn't hit," Kestrel reported quickly, allaying his concern for Jess' physical welfare immediately. "One shot was fired."

One shot that had clearly been meant for Rand. An unspoken threat and a terrible punishment for all of them.

All bets were finally off.

"Jessie?" he began, taking a step closer to his sister just as Shaine bolted through the doorway, her dark hair wild and her eyes, red-rimmed from crying, wide with fear as she pushed past the transgenics who tried to stop her. Alec swore under his breath, knowing it had been futile to hope that the brunette might have remained oblivious for the time being.

"Rand!"

_Shit!_ Alec cursed silently, already torn between his friend and Jess.

"Shaine, stay with me," Alec ordered, grabbing hold of her before she could pass him.

"We've got this. Go," Max assured him hurriedly as if reading his mind, giving him a push in Rand's direction. Kestrel simply nodded at him, observing the entire room from where she stood, signaling the transgenics who hadn't already done so to either take up defensive positions or assist the medic.

The blonde CO moved over to the window, examining the hole in the glass and glancing around at the walls, trying to locate the bullet and calculate the trajectory.

Sari was up to her elbows in gore as she barked hasty orders, using all of her skill just to keep Rand's struggling heart beating, let alone stop the bleeding.

"I need blood," was all Sari told him as he knelt beside her. Without hesitation, Alec rolled up his sleeve and snatched up the emergency transfusion supplies the medics invariably carried with them in their field kits. Freshly stocked after tending to Joshua and Syl, it was already looking frighteningly bare as two others assisted Sari in getting the situation under control.

Shaine stood off to the side, staring down at Rand with wild eyes, helpless to do anything but watch Sari and her assistants work.

"Jess," Max urged the female quietly as she crouched down in front of her. "I need you to talk to me. What happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Jess snapped, her eyes suddenly smoldering with anger. "Fallon made good on her threats."

Shaine wheeled at the sound of the blonde's voice, fury contorting her features.

"What the hell is she still doing here?" the brunette demanded, moving to advance on Jess, who looked up slowly, watching Shaine from beneath half-lowered lids, her expression indecipherable.

"Shaine." Max interposed herself between the angry female and her blood-covered target. "Not now."

"I want her out of here," Shaine growled insistently. "This is her fault. I want her gone."

"Jess didn't shoot him," Max replied sharply, trying to be reasonable. "Now stand down."

"Like hell," Shaine snarled, trying to brush past Max only to be held back by 452's grip on her arm. Max met Shaine's eyes, her face stony.

"I like you, Shaine, but don't push your luck," Max warned, refusing to budge. "Back. Off. That's an order."

"Fuck your orders," Shaine shot back. "Rand's dying!" Her voice broke on the last word, her desperation a living, breathing thing.

Max didn't lighten her grip on Shaine, though her heart ached for her. To lose her mate and then face the possibility of losing her brother less than a day later…

"He's not going to die," Jess spoke up, her voice flat, toneless. "But if you want a body count, I can fix that."

"Don't you dare move," Max said firmly, turning to glare at Jess. "You are not going to do anything stupid, you hear me?"

"Tell that to Fallon," Jess hissed. "Remember, you're not just thinkin' for one any more. Who do you think she's gonna hit next, Max? You or Alec?"

"And whose fault will that be?" Shaine raged, fixing Jess with a baleful glare.

"Shut the hell up," Max snapped at Shaine, and then deliberately softened her tone. "This isn't helping Rand."

Glacial blue-green eyes shifted from Max to Shaine, a bitter smirk tugging at her lips. "You know, you're right," she said crisply, as if she were discussing the price of peppermint oil. "This _isn't_ helping Rand." Jess got to her feet in one fluid motion as Shaine surged forward, fists clenching as she moved to swing at the blonde.

Max grabbed hold on her, twisting her arm up behind her back and pinning her other arm to her side.

"Don't even think about it!" Max ordered harshly, spitting out a mouthful of long brown hair. Shaine lashed out by kicking back, forcing Max to counter and hit her behind the knees with her boot, collapsing her into a kneeling position. By the time Max looked up, she was too late to do anything except glimpse a flash of golden hair disappearing out of the door.

"Jess!" Max shouted after her, cursing inwardly at the whole situation. "Kes! Here, take care of her!" Max snapped, pausing only long enough to be sure that Kestrel had a firm grip on Shaine before jogging after Alec's sister. "Jess, get your ass back here!"

"Just get the hell away from me before the bitch shoots anyone else!" the blonde shouted, her voice echoing in the empty corridors. By the time Max had tracked the sound, she was gone.

"Jess!" Max called after her, grinding her teeth in frustration. "_Fuck._"

**A While**** Later…**

Zane sighed as he let himself into the quarters he was ostensibly sharing with Krit and Syl. He'd been crashing on their couch back at the other safehouse, so it was only fair that he returned the favor. He closed the door behind him and sighed, shaking his head to clear the fog that had finally descended on him.

He was nowhere near drunk but he was definitely in fuzzy territory.

So he wasn't in any shape to fend off the attack that came from behind, taking him by surprise. He was slammed face-first into the wall before he knew what was happening, his eyes widening in alarm as he felt cold metal clasp his wrists and locks click into place, holding him prisoner. He struggled, a growl rising in his throat as his captor leaned up over his shoulder and he belatedly realized who he was dealing with.

"Hello, lover," Jess purred in his ear. "Miss me?"

Glancing angrily back over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of blue-green eyes filled with dark intent before she grabbed his arm and spun him around, shoving him back into the wall again so that he was facing her.

"What? No kiss?" she asked sardonically. "Not in the mood to play today?"

"Let me go, Jess," he told her, his temper rising to match the visceral undercurrent in his voice as he towered over her, "before I –"

"Before you what?" she challenged him with a snort. "Talk me to death? Sorry, baby. Shrinking violet's left the building. Crazy bitch is back."

"You always did like it rough," Zane chuckled humorlessly, his wrists twisting as he tested the strength of the cuffs. "What the hell do you want?"

"Fallon," she told him without preamble. "Now are you going to be a good little prisoner or do I have to get creative?"

"Sounds kinky," Zane shrugged dispassionately, "but last time I checked, I didn't know anyone called Fallon."

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you too well," she cautioned him, leaning in until he could feel her warm breath on his neck. "I can still smell her all over you..."

Scent was the last thing Zane wanted to think about. Not when she smelled just the same as she had years before – earthy with a hint of spice, like the sultry days of summer. Not a single hint of perfume…

Zane let out a warning growl, his muscles locking, his anger building with every passing moment as he felt her reach up under his shirt, tracing her fingers along his skin and around his rib cage. Scent and touch… his shoulders and arms tensed as he strained against the shackles. She raised her head, her blue-green eyes meeting his, almost daring him to look away first.

His mind wasn't clear enough to deal with this kind of confrontation. There was far too much of her pressed against him, her questing hand splayed as it moved across hard muscle until she encountered what she'd been searching for – the leather harness that sheathed a knife between his shoulder-blades. He felt her fingers close around the hilt and draw the weapon, the metal cool as it lingered against his skin.

"Same old Zane," she smirked as she recognized the blade, letting the edge graze his jugular. "You never did learn to like guns, did you?"

"I think I could make an exception," he assured her, holding her all-too-knowing gaze. It was a bluff and she was well aware of that fact.

"Promises, promises," she replied smoothly and the metal bit into his wrists as he worked against the restraints. He wasn't capable of slipping out of them as she could without breaking his hands. "Now start talking."

"About what?" he demanded and watched fury blaze behind her eyes.

"They shot Rand."

She threw that fact in his face and watched his mocking expression falter for a moment, his brandy brown eyes flickering with a myriad of emotions.

"When?" he asked finally, staring at her in consternation.

"A few hours ago," she told him coldly. "Sniper shot."

"Is he alive?" he asked, unable to suppress a stab of apprehension.

"Just tell me what you know about her _fast_," Jess insisted, pressing his own blade hard against his Adam's apple. "Fallon would have given the order and guess what?" she whispered menacingly. "That makes _you_ the only lead I've got."

"Which means killing me wouldn't be smart," he observed calmly, as if he wasn't backed into a corner with his hands pinioned and a knife against his throat.

"The only thing I give a shit about right now is the fact that someone put a bullet in Rand's back," Jess said in a hard, hushed tone as her eyes seemed to burn into his. "So you can either give me what I want or I can start bleeding you."

"You don't have the stones," Zane told her, his voice a steely whisper. Jess' vivid eyes narrowed, the metal breaking into the skin of his neck for a moment as they stared each other down. A droplet of blood trickled downwards.

"Fine," Jess replied, whipping the knife away from his neck and digging the tip into the bulge of his jeans.

"Okay, okay!" Zane cried out in a blaze of alarm, flinching away from the weapon. "Take it easy…"

"We'll see who doesn't have the stones," Jess warned him, pressing the blade warningly against that rather vital part of his anatomy. "What did she promise you? A shot at me? That's a shitty deal, Zane, and you know it."

"I'm getting my money's worth," Zane replied, holding her gaze as the chain linking the handcuffs finally snapped under the pressure he'd been exerting.

Jess moved so fast he almost didn't catch hold of her, launching herself away from him at the same moment he dove for her. He caught her by the wrist, jerking her back and throwing her up against the wall, wresting the knife out of her grip and driving it into the plasterboard a scant inch from her head.

She didn't even flinch, looking directly at him rather than the knife that had sliced through the wall like butter.

"Still feel like threatening me?" he challenged her, his voice rough.

"You oughta know," she replied, no trace of mockery in her tone. "How did you feel when they shot Syl?"

"You don't get to talk about my sister," Zane bit out.

"What are you gonna do, Zane? Punish me?" she replied, her voice silken in its scorn. "Kill me? Tried and failed, baby."

"Practice makes perfect," he rumbled.

"Sometimes," she whispered tauntingly. "If you're going to do it, just do it. Come on, slit my throat," she urged him darkly. "Stab me through the heart."

"You don't have one," Zane drawled.

"Ouch," Jess pouted, watching him from beneath half-lowered lids. "Now we both know that's not true."

"You want to talk about truth?" he snorted. "That's pretty rich coming from you."

"Not everything was a lie," she told him honestly, letting her guard slip ever so slightly. "You used to trust me."

"I trusted someone who doesn't exist," Zane hissed, his blazing eyes holding hers as he lashed out at her. "Her name was Eva. I don't know who the hell _you_ are."

Jess stilled, a hint of… something… flashing across her features before she controlled her reaction. The infamous Manticore mask slammed into place in a heartbeat.

"Fine," she decided, her expression hardening until all traces of the girl were wiped out, leaving a soldier in her wake. Zane had seen that look before and it chilled him to the bone. "If you won't give me what I want, I'll just have to do this the hard way."

Zane regarded her warily.

"What are you going to do?"

"If Fallon wants a war, I'll damn well give it to her."


	48. Smoke and Mirrors

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N:** Warning! Warning! Alert to all reviewers! My beta has threatened to reply! Mayday! Mayday!

**Chapter 48:**** Smoke and Mirrors**

**Undisclosed Location**

Fallon looked up from cleaning a field-stripped Smith and Wesson just as Vance strolled into what had once been an office cafeteria with a rifle slung across his back. There was a definite spring in his step and a smug expression on his face that spoke well of his mood.

"How'd it go?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.

"You should have seen the look on Jess' face when he went down," Vance crowed, sounding nothing short of exhilarated by his mission. Fallon couldn't help grinning.

"Thought you might enjoy that," she replied knowingly. "He's dead?"

"Unless his heart magically migrated to the other side of his chest," Vance said with relish. "It was beautiful. The bullet went straight through and sprayed blood all over Jess. He folded up like an accordion. I stuck around until he flat-lined."

"It's the simple things in life that you treasure," Fallon agreed, excessively pleased. "One down, four to go."

"Give me Wolf," Vance urged her in a low voice, one side of his mouth curling upwards. "He'd make a great throw rug."

"Easier said than done when he's trying to rally the transhumans," Fallon informed him. "He seems to think he can change their minds."

"How's that working out for him?" Vance asked with a chuckle and Fallon's dark eyes lit up with amusement.

"He's not very popular right now," she replied. "His furry ass got tossed out of at least two safehouses."

"Don't s'pose we caught that on camera?" Vance asked slyly.

"Security footage," Fallon confirmed. "They agreed to send it over for our viewing pleasure."

"Nice," Vance gloated. "Come on, let me take him down. One by one. I'll even do Kestrel for you."

"Not necessary just yet but I'll take it under advisement," Fallon told him. "I do like your work ethic."

"Shoot first, shoot again, shoot some more and have a party doing it?" he asked and Fallon nodded. "What's not to like?"

Fallon smiled appreciatively as her cell phone rang. "You're an animal, Vance."

"I guess we have that in common," he agreed as she glanced at the screen and made an exasperated face.

"Ames." She drawled his name with thinly veiled disdain. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"_We had an agreement_," he said coolly, his voice taut but controlled.

"You don't say," Fallon replied, rolling her eyes at Vance.

"_Deliver them now or I'll kill you and every one of those mutants you call soldiers_."

Fallon let out a low, rolling laugh.

"I think you're forgetting something, reptile boy," she told him with no small measure of satisfaction. "We've established that your way of doing things doesn't work. But me? I'm getting what I want. You need _my_ help, not the other way around."

"_You watch yourself_," he warned her but she just shook her head as if she were dealing with an errant child.

"You're playing in _my_ sandbox, Ames," Fallon reminded him. "I'll deliver 452 and 494 when I'm damn good and ready. Until then, sit back and do whatever it is you and your freaky little snake-fucking friends do." Her tone turned sweet with false concern. "You wouldn't want me to set my dogs on you, would you?"

"_I don't take kindly to threats_," Ames informed her.

"And I don't give them unless I mean them," Fallon replied smoothly. "Do we understand each other?"

"_Just stick to the deal_," he told her coldly.

"You hold up your end and I'll hold up mine," Fallon assured him and with that she hung up and slid the phone onto the table with the dismantled gun. "Men. So impatient."

"You think he'll try to pull a fast one?" Vance mused.

"He wouldn't be White if he didn't," Fallon replied logically as she moved towards the cages at the far end of the room. "There's my beautiful little baby," she cooed, reaching between the bars to stroke one of the creatures inside. "Are you hungry? Huh?"

The animal barked softly and leaned into her touch, cocking its head so she was caressing just the right spot.

"Yeah, you are, aren't you?" she chuckled.

"You know, Boyd's downstairs," Vance told her. "Do you want me to bring him in?"

Fallon merely nodded, never turning her eyes from her pets. Vance obediently left the room and returned in short order with the former CO.

"You ready to report, Boyd?" Fallon asked, glancing over to where the nocturnal X5 was standing in the shadows as Vance made himself comfortable in one of the chairs.

"All silent so far," Boyd replied flatly. "They amped up the defenses but they don't have a trail. Vance kept his ass well and truly off the radar."

Fallon turned a delighted look on the X5 in question. "Atta boy."

Vance just grinned as she continued to pay attention to her pets.

"You want another treat?" she asked them, scratching one beneath its scaly chin. "Was that nasty little redhead tasty? There's more where she came from." The last was said in a sing-song voice that made Boyd squirm a little as he watched the scene in silence. "You can go now, Boyd."

The wiry transgenic nodded and left without another word. Both Fallon and Vance waited until he was out of earshot before continuing.

"You're really going to give Max and Alec to White?" Vance seemed curious more than anything. "I thought you'd want to do the honors yourself."

Fallon smirked over her shoulder at him her dark eyes alight with wicked satisfaction.

"I promised Zane that neither I nor anyone under my command would hurt 452 or 494… or any more of his siblings," she said, practically purring at the thought as she turned back to gaze lovingly at her pets. "And I _always_ keep my promises."

**

* * *

**Alec stared down at Rand's still face. No hint of 494's true feelings touched his features. He appeared to be completely impassive as he took in the bloodless color of his friend's skin; now cool to the touch, so pale it was virtually translucent. 

A few feet away, Sari leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. Tendrils of golden hair that had escaped from her braid curled around her face. She too was silent, her blue eyes fixed on what was left of her patient. In the background, the only two machines they had beeped rhythmically, keeping time with the heartbeats of Syl and the sleeping Joshua. Alec knew it was strictly a back-up. As distracted as she appeared, Sari was listening intently, monitoring the pulses and respiratory rates of everyone in the room. It was automatic on her part, as natural as breathing.

"Alec?"

Max's voice was soft but still compelling. He slowly looked over his shoulder to find her moving towards him. He took in the disheveled tangle of dark hair and wide, sympathetic brown eyes and didn't resist when he felt her lay her hand against his back. Her presence was the only constant he had and he selfishly clung to that. Even Jess was gone and no-one had been able to find her.

"I want Fallon," Alec said softly, his voice tight with controlled rage.

"You're not the only one," Max replied, her eyes flashing with familiar fire, her determination a balm that seeped into his soul. That was his Max, a fighter to the core, no matter how bad things got. They'd lost too much ground to Fallon, too many friends and allies, and neither of them were prepared to take it lying down any more.

Sari watched them without a word, pursing her lips as her blue eyes flicked back to Rand.

He looked so different when he wasn't in motion. Like Alec, he had an expressive face, full of character and vitality. He was always thinking, always moving. He just didn't look like Rand when he was lying there lifelessly.

It was a contrast she'd seen all too often in her line of work.

"Perimeter defenses?" Alec asked.

"Doubled," Max informed him, her lip curling slightly, "but it doesn't help that we don't have a definite idea of who's with us and who's with Fallon."

"Kestrel and Wolf?"

"Wolf should be here any minute," Max replied. "Kestrel's checking out the building across the street. She says she knows where the shot was fired from." She pulled a small, twisted, blood-stained hunk of metal out of her pocket and held it out to him. "Stone and Vaughn found this in the wall."

Alec's hazel eyes locked onto the bullet sitting on her open palm, his insides going cold at the sight.

"A fucking .50 cal?" he asked grimly and Max nodded.

"Whoever Fallon sent wanted to make sure Rand wouldn't get up again," she agreed and Alec scrubbed a hand over his face, his teeth clenching so hard they ached. "It looks like a Barrett, probably an M82."

"Good. I'll know which rifle to shove up Fallon's ass before I pull the trigger," Alec ground out. "Any luck following the trail?"

"Not yet," Max said with a shake of her head. "They pulled a good old fashioned disappearing act on us."

"I don't get why they targeted him," Alec said softly, looking at Rand once again. "Why not take us out first? He was a unit leader back at Manticore. They know he's got the skills even if they don't think we do."

"They also know he was on our side," Max reasoned. "They want to scare us."

"They're doing a pretty good job," Alec confessed, swallowing thickly. "They'll come after us next."

"If they want you, they've gotta go through me," Max declared, half-promise, half-warning.

"It's not me I'm worried about," he told her, his green-gold eyes moving over her face as if memorizing every detail. "Brax, Ember… Rand and Jett… even Jess is gone. There's hardly anyone left that we can trust, Max."

Max ducked her head, pursing her full lips. "Zane's still missing too. And I can't ask Krit. Not with what happened to Syl." She let her breath out in a rush and dragged a hand through her hair. "Kestrel and Wolf are all we've got."

"Now that's high praise if ever I heard it," Kestrel deadpanned as she entered the infirmary.

"You know what I meant," Max huffed.

"Lucky for you, yeah," Kestrel agreed and passed over one of the folded dark blue items she was carrying under one arm.

"What's this?" Max asked as she accepted the garment and examined it.

"Kevlar," Kestrel replied succinctly as she handed them to Alec and Sari as well. "Your new best friend. Courtesy of Wolf. You two are going to be living in this stuff until we can neutralize Fallon."

"What about you?" Alec asked and Kestrel simply lifted up the hem of her shirt, revealing the fitted vest she was already wearing.

"We've only got a limited supply at the moment so we're giving them to high-risk targets for the moment," Kestrel continued. "Us, Vaughn and Stone, Krit and Sari and I'll be issuing one to Cody when she gets here."

"How far out is she?" Max asked.

"Another twenty minutes," Kestrel replied. "Sari really needs the downtime and the infirmary's too full to leave it with those assistants of hers."

"I appreciate it," Sari interjected in a tired tone, sparing the group a glance, "but what makes you think they'll keep going for body shots? Kevlar's not much good when they aim for your head."

"I'll take what I can get," Max replied dryly, knowing that Sari had a good point.

"You'd better change into them now," Kestrel advised. "The vests are adjustable so they aren't obvious."

Alec and Max exchanged a glance and looked at Sari, who gestured towards one of the vacant curtained areas. "Be my guest," she told them. The pair obediently walked over and closed the curtain around them.

"You first," Alec told her. Max had expected that. With everything that had happened, he was determined to protect her and their tadpole of a baby before he thought about himself. Rather than waste time arguing with him, Max shucked her jacket and turned around to strip off her tank top, still a little shy about undressing in front of him.

Once she was down to her bra, she reached out for the vest. He handed it to her, circling around to watch her put it on and help her fasten it appropriately. Unfortunately, the vest stopped just above her hips, leaving her abdomen vulnerable. She saw Alec's mouth tighten, his eyes darkening as he realized the same thing.

"Do they make Kevlar underwear?" Max joked lamely.

"I wish," Alec muttered and kissed her fiercely, the back of his fingers feathering across her cheek. She kissed him back and wound her arms around his neck, the protective vest preventing her curves from molding against him.

Max sighed as he pressed his forehead to hers. She wanted to be her usual hot-tempered, bitchy take-charge self but a teeny tiny part of her liked these quiet, vulnerable moments. No bullshit, no defense mechanisms, no stupid arguments or sarcastic remarks. Just Max and Alec.

Her mate.

The idea still scared the living hell out of her but she wouldn't give him up for the world. It was ironic. If anyone had told her that day in her cell at Manticore when she met X5-494 that they'd end up here, she'd have slapped them up the side of the head and told them they were crazy.

"I hate this," she murmured. "I hate losing people."

"We're gonna be okay," he told her, gathering her to him. She let her head fall onto his shoulder and felt his lips brush against her hair. For a moment, she let him comfort her, drawing strength from his presence, and just as quickly sniffed and stepped back, reaching for his vest.

"Your turn," she told him crisply, glancing at his shirt and jacket. "Come on, get those off."

Alec's eyes twinkled but he complied, switching back into 'always-all-right' mode just like that. Sometimes she hated the way he retreated like that but wasn't she just as guilty? They worked quickly to get the vest sitting just right and she circled him once just be sure it all looked okay before she let him get dressed again.

When they re-emerged, Sari was still keeping vigil over Rand, her blue eyes fixed on his motionless form. She looked up as they approached and nodded soberly, knowing how much they'd lost in such a short space of time. She'd gotten up close and personal with it when she'd been called to have Brax's body moved from his cell.

They nodded and exited as silently as they'd entered with Kestrel in their wake.

Sari had hoped when she'd escaped Manticore that the seemingly endless stream of dead and dying might finally stop or at least slow down. Sadly, it hadn't eventuated. If anything, her workload was worse than ever. She shook her head slightly, trying to clear the cobwebs.

Her cell phone saved her the trouble by buzzing in her pocket. She fished it out with a huff.

"What?" she said impatiently, wishing she didn't have to talk to anyone for a while.

"_Sari_."

She blinked; startled to realize it was her mate on the other end of the line. "Boyd?"

"_God, it's good to hear your voice, baby_," he sighed, blissfully unaware of the fury contorting her features as he spoke. "_Are you and Kyp okay?_"

"Are. We. Okay?" Sari enunciated each word in angry disbelief though she managed to keep her voice down. "You're asking about us when someone plugged a fucking .50 cal round into Rand's back? I just spent _three hours_ trying to piece him back together!"

"_Sari _–"

"Was it you?" she demanded with a catlike growl.

"_No, I_ –"

"Did you know about it?" she snapped, her usually non-existent temper jumping higher on the Richter scale by the second.

Silence.

"Did you know about it or not?!" Sari repeated harshly.

"_Yes_."

That one syllable sank into Sari's bones like ice, shaking her to the core.

"This wasn't what we agreed to, Boyd," she breathed, anxiety creeping into her tone. "I'm a medic; I'm supposed to _stop_ people from dying. What the hell is Fallon doing?"

There was a short pause before her mate answered; sounding more uncertain than she'd ever heard him. "_I don't know_," he admitted. "_There's something else going on_."

"Like what?" she asked, immediately latching onto that.

"_I'm not sure_," Boyd said hesitantly, "_but when Cody gets there, ask her what she found when she examined those bodies from the other night_."

"Why? What's wrong?" Sari asked, her brow furrowing in consternation. "And how did you know they called Cody in?"

"_Just do it, Sari_," Boyd told her, "_and be careful_."

The next thing she heard was dial-tone and Sari stared down at the cell phone in her hand, a knot forming in her stomach as she ran through the conversation again in her mind. Boyd believed wholeheartedly in Fallon's cause; that Max and Alec were not the right leaders for the transgenics and should be made to step down. He'd sabotaged them for that very reason.

So what was it that had him spooked?


	49. Famous Last Words

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **I'm so sorry it took so long to update. I had other writing commitments but I'm back! Patricia, I tried to reply to you but the e-mail bounced...

**Chapter 49: Famous Last Words**

**The Phone Call****…**

"She's gunning for you."

A low chuckle. "_Well, we wouldn't want to disappoint her, would we? Bring her in._"

"This should be interesting."

"_You_ can _handle it, can't you? Big, strong combat model like yourself_…"

"Cute. It won't be a problem."

"_Just make sure she's alive when she gets here_."

He snapped the phone shut without answering.

**The Rooftop…**

Zane pushed away from where he was sitting against the brick barricade that surrounded the roof. He didn't make a sound as he moved, striding cat-quietly towards the other side of the building. He glanced up at the night sky where clouds obscured the stars, a chill breeze ruffling his close-cropped curls.

On the other side of the structure, Jess was perched rather like a bird, staring out over the city without a thought for the multi-storey plunge that might await her if she lost her balance.

"This is it?" she asked dryly, without moving a muscle.

"Yeah," he agreed tonelessly, coming to stand a few feet behind her. He had to admit that it was a rather magnificent view, the lights against the darkness above. He deliberately avoided looking directly at Jess. She was a sight he wasn't in the right mindset to admire.

"So where's the party?" she asked, finally looking over her shoulder at him. He held her gaze, brandy brown eyes locked on vivid blue-green for what seemed like an eternity.

"You in a hurry?" he replied neutrally.

"To put a bullet in Fallon's head?" Jess quirked an eyebrow at him. "Gee. Let me think about that."

"You'll forgive for being a skeptical about your motives," Zane told her and Jess shot him a sharp glance.

"_My_ motives? That's hilarious, Zane, really. Now tell me where the fuck she is before I pick up where I left off."

"You mean backed up against a wall with my knife next to your head?" Zane deadpanned.

"Kinky," Jess said slyly as she uncoiled from her crouch and stepped back onto solid ground, "but I'm not in the mood."

"You're always in the mood," Zane replied matter-of-factly, giving her an all-too-knowing look. "As I recall."

"You lookin' to get down and dirty, Zane?" Jess scoffed as she approached him. "You gonna screw me into submission?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said with a hint of a sneer. "Then again, fucking people over to get what you want is your specialty, isn't it?"

"You don't know anything about what I want," she assured him coolly.

"I know you want Fallon dead bad enough to come here with me," Zane reminded her. "That's one hell of a risk."

"This coming from the guy who's had two chances to kill me and didn't take either of them?" Jess snorted softly.

"Fair enough," he conceded. "If things were simpler, I'd have cut your throat by now."

"Guess I'd better keep it complicated then," Jess decided flippantly. "I kinda like being alive."

"That's a shame," Zane said with a slow shake of his head. "I hear third time's the charm."

Jess' eyes narrowed slightly and her lips parted in a slow, predatory smile.

"Is that so?" she purred, not at all intimidated by the fact that he towered over her by a good eight inches. "What are you gonna do, Zane? Spank me?" she challenged him, eyes flashing darkly. "Probably not. You were never much for the pre-show."

"Didn't hear you complaining," Zane reminded her, his voice rumbling softly.

"I was eighteen. I didn't know any better," Jess replied sweetly, gracing him with one of her infuriating smiles and Zane's jaw clenched angrily, the comment snaking its way under his skin. He bit back the impulse to just reach out and snap her smug little neck on the spot. That or shove her up against a wall and fuck her until the only thing coming out of her mouth was his name.

He hated that she made him crazy. He hated that she'd lied. He hated the fact that every time he looked at her, his temper raged out of control. More than anything, he hated himself for giving a crap.

God, he just hated _her_.

"Come on, Zane," she taunted him, doing what she did best – pushing buttons. "You're telling me you didn't have _any_ clue? _None_? Are you that big a chump or am I that good an actress?"

She saw Zane's brandy brown eyes change color, all the gold draining away until only onyx remained.

"Yeah, that's right," she goaded him, moving so close he was practically breathing her in. Her voice dropped to a throaty whisper as she turned her face up to his. "Get angry. Turn me over your knee and teach me a lesson. I deserve it, right?"

Zane stood absolutely still and for a long moment the only sound was that of his breath mingling with hers. Then he leaned in so that his warm lips brushed her ear.

"Yes."

Jess' expression blanked for a second as she felt him move, felt the blade bite into her side. She glanced down, staring down at the wound as blood slowly started to well up and ooze out of it, and then looked back at him.

Well. Shit.

"No witnesses, no interruptions," he said calmly as he stepped back, taking the weapon with him. Jess grimaced at the sensation of the metal withdrawing, one hand automatically clamping down over the wound.

"Well, look who finally grew a pair," she said with a humorless smile as she backed up a pace, automatically bracing herself for combat. "But does he have the brass to try it again?"

"I'm up for anything," he replied mockingly. "You know that."

"Yeah, you're real brave when the odds are in your favor," Jess retorted, wincing slightly as she turned to follow Zane's movement. He was circling her like a jackal closing in for the kill. "Smooth move."

"Well, you do like to run your mouth," he pointed out as if it should have been obvious. "Seemed like the thing to do."

"Look who's talking," Jess shot back, furious with herself for letting her guard down. She knew better. She'd spent her entire life knowing better. She'd never made it that easy for someone to take a shot at her. Not once in twenty-two years.

Well, okay. Maybe once. Ironic that it always happened around him.

She flipped her pale hair away from her face, never taking her eyes off him, and let her lips curve up at the corners. If he wanted to fight, she'd fight, but she'd damn well do it on her terms.

Finally, they both stilled, gazes locked, the only movement that of the wind catching her hair.

They both blurred at the same instant, colliding in a flurry of strikes and blocks, moving too fast for the naked eye to track. A blow landed under Zane's rib cage, a kick connected with Jess' side, and they kept going, throwing all restraint aside as instinct took over, guiding their movements without conscious thought for anything except the desire to win.

Zane finally managed to catch hold of her and bodily throw her onto the ground, his hand locked around her throat as he pinned her down, the knife poised to strike.

"That all you got?" he jeered and Jess' knee snapped upwards, hitting him directly between the legs and doubling him over. He let go on reflex and she rolled up onto her feet, grabbing hold of his collar. She hit him with a right hook and kept hitting him, driving her fist into his head over and over until the skin of his cheek split open. Blood painted his lips and he let out a growl as she sent him sprawling face-down on the concrete, his knife skittering across the roof. A heartbeat later she delivered a kick to his jaw that knocked him back another couple of feet and made his neck crack painfully.

Zane spat a mouthful of blood onto the hard ground and rolled away from her, knowing that if he stayed down he wasn't going to win. Grappling was Jess' thing, not his. He got up onto his feet, blocking out the screaming pain in his mouth by sheer force of will.

"That's enough of that shit," he bit out as she moved in to engage him yet again, striking at his throat. He blocked that easily enough, snatching her wrist in mid-air and hauling her back against him, one arm wrapping around her to pin her arms to her sides as the other swiped at his ankle and came up along her spine, the cold steel of his back-up weapon glinting in his hand.

He watched her face contort in pain, her mouth working soundlessly as she dragged in a ragged breath. Her hand locked onto his, holding his arm captive as she slammed the back of her skull into his face so hard that he reeled, stars exploding behind his eyes.

Jess staggered away from him and the bloodied blade clattered onto the cement, straightening up with an effort even as her muscles screamed a protest and blood flowed freely down her back, staining her clothes.

"Come on," she urged him through gritted teeth as he shook his head to clear his vision. "_Come on_, you son of a bitch. Fucking well get over here and finish what you started."

"My fucking pleasure," Zane growled, swiping away the blood that was oozing from his nose and mouth as he advanced on her again. She didn't move fast enough to evade the crushing force of the punch that connected with the side of her head. "Now it's my turn."

She ducked under his next blow, coming up behind him and aiming an elbow strike at his neck but he spun away into a kick that caught her across the back. She slammed side-on into the brick wall that separated the roof from thin air and felt a hand come down on the back of her neck, trapping her.

A knee to her wounded stomach doubled her over and she coughed, struggling to breathe through the agony that speared through her. She rolled away from him, finally coming up on her knees and Zane cocked his head, regarding the X5 female at his feet with a hint of disappointment.

"I don't remember you going down this easy."

Jess looked up, a crafty gleam lighting up her bloodshot eyes and Zane realized too late that she'd maneuvered him to the side of the roof. The blonde lunged upwards with all of her remaining strength, hitting him squarely in the stomach and hurling them both over the edge.

They both hit the metal rail of the fire escape, the impact sending white hot fire corkscrewing up Zane's spine and momentarily breaking the six-storey fall. He tried to grab for a handhold but Jess' weight threw him off and they both plummeted again.

Zane hit the cement on his side and let out a snarl as he felt pain explode through his arm, chest and hip.

"_Fucking crazy bitch…"_ he growled, rolling onto his back and lifting his head off the pavement to inspect the damage. The denim was torn, stained red and his hip screaming but still intact. Only then did he glance over at the battered blonde spitting out a mouthful of blood to his left, looking like she'd just been hit by a truck.

Her pale hair was streaked with crimson, her pupils blown out and the iris of one eye surrounded by broken blood vessels. Yet she still curled her cracked, bleeding lips at him in derision.

"That all you got, baby?" she gasped sarcastically, wheezing as she breathed.

Typical. The girl just didn't know when to back down. Yet she didn't even try to get up. She was just sitting on the ancient bitumen, bracing her weight on one arm as the other stayed wrapped around her middle, her skin white as a sheet.

Zane pushed himself up, hopping slightly as he put his weight on his leg. It hurt like a bitch but nothing was broken. He limped the short distance and towered over her. She looked up at him and let out a bark of bitter laughter.

"Is this the part where you drag me off to Fallon's lair?" she asked, her voice hitching.

"No," he replied simply, watching her with a flat, cold gaze that she recognized immediately. She held that gaze for a full ten seconds, knowing she couldn't fight him any more. Her legs wouldn't hold her.

"They'll hunt you," she told him at last. It was a warning, plain and simple, and Zane knew exactly who she was talking about without asking.

The battered X5 male simply reached down and grabbed hold of her by the throat, pulling her inexorably up onto her feet and backing her up against the cold stone wall.

"I can live with that," he informed her.

"Not if Alec gets hold of you," she rasped, the pressure on her windpipe increasing.

"He's gotta find me first, Golden," he replied logically, and then smiled ever so slightly. "You know, I just realized I didn't hold up my end of our little bargain."

"You fucking bastard…" Jess spat a mouthful of blood in his face, barely able to breathe through his grip and the painful, heavy feeling spreading through her body.

"Fallon's in the old office building on Crockett," Zane murmured in her ear, his thumb feathering across her cheek and leaving a trail of crimson in its wake. "Sector Six."

Angry blue-green eyes seemed to burn through him.

"How's it feel to do something you can't take back?" she whispered as he released her, her voice breaking in its weakness.

Zane felt the words hit him in the chest with more force than a punch, driving the air from his lungs as her legs buckled and she slid downwards, falling to the ground like a rag doll as the cold Seattle wind picked up and flicked strands of pale gold hair across her face. He stared down at her in silence as she stilled completely, the shallow motion of her chest finally slowing to a stop.

The sight burned its way into his memory, his guts tightening painfully. He scrubbed a shaking hand across his face, unwittingly smearing her blood across his skin, and bent down to retrieve his weapon. The crimson-stained metal glinted wetly in his hand and he looked back for a long moment.

Only her hair continued to move, ruffled by the wind.

Nonetheless, Zane crouched down and reached out to search for a pulse in the crook of her neck. Satisfied at last, he straightened and tightened his grip on the knife. Then he vanished into the night.

From across the street, the hoverdrone that had captured everything on camera began to transmit.


	50. Before The Storm

**Disclaimer****: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**Chapter 50: Before The Storm**

**Three**** Hours Later…**

The motel room door swung open as a battered young man let himself in, shuffling slightly as he limped across the carpet. The German Shepherd lying on the bed was immediately alert, a soft whine escaping as he leapt off the ancient comforter and towards his master.

"Hey, boy," Zane muttered, sparing the dog a quick scratch behind the ears. He winced as he eased the bloodstained black jacket off his shoulders and let it fall onto the floor, making his way to the bathroom and the supplies he'd stashed there that morning. It hadn't taken a genius to figure out he'd need a fallback point.

He divested himself of his boots and ruined jeans, casting them aside with a mental note to burn them before glancing down at himself and the damage Jess had inflicted before he'd taken her out of the equation. There was more blood than he liked and more pain than he'd anticipated. The hip was particularly bad but considering he'd been thrown off the side of a building, it was to be expected. Given a few more hours he knew the stabbing pain would have receded to a more bearable throb. With a hiss, he sat down on the side of the yellowish cracked porcelain bathtub and reached for the first aid kit.

Almost an hour of peroxide and stitches and prying out the gravel embedded in his flesh. A long shower to wash the sweat away and plenty of soap to rid himself of that distinctive metallic scent that seemed to cling to the back of his throat. He dug the blood out from under his fingernails and donned a fresh pair of jeans before he fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

One arm automatically curled around Diesel when the dog jumped up and settled down beside him, his fingers moving absently through the thick fur.

_"How's it feel to do something you can't take back?"_

Fuck. She always had to have the last goddamn word. He could almost see her in the room, like a ghost in the periphery of his vision, tilting her head as she regarded him with blue-green eyes that always saw too much.

_Get out of my head_, he growled silently, slinging his arm across his eyes.

She'd have snorted at that, eyes dancing. _Sorry. No can do_.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

**Sector Three**

"Cody's here."

Max's announcement roused Alec from his thoughts and he exhaled slowly as he turned hazel eyes on the brunette standing in the doorway of the command room.

A vision in Kevlar if ever there was one. Tired in both mind and body but a vision nonetheless.

"All right, I'll let Sari know," Alec replied, stepping away from the computer he'd been using. "We can debrief and then she can get some sleep."

"No sign of Jess yet?" Max asked quietly and Alec shook his head, his jaw clenching.

"Whatever she's doing, she's keeping her head down," he growled, frustrated by his sister's disappearing act. "We won't find her unless she wants to be found."

"Do you think she'll get it done?" Max asked, keeping her tone carefully neutral. They both knew what Jess' goal probably was. They also knew that killing Fallon would solve one problem and create a lot more. A leader could be assassinated but that didn't mean the idea that leader fought for just vanished.

"I don't know," Alec admitted. "Give her a puzzle to put together or a person to take apart and I'd put my money on her every time but straight-up combat was never her strength. It'll depend on how she plays it."

"She'll be back before you know it," Max said, aiming to reassure him. "That girl's got more lives than a cat."

"I wish we had Brax or Rand here," Alec sighed, raking his fingers through his dark blonde hair. "Or Mole. I'd kill to have that old lizard around again."

"We'll get him back," Max declared firmly.

"One way or another, right?" Alec grimaced as he reached the door and stepped through with Max on his heels. They split up after only a few paces, Alec moving towards the infirmary while Max walked towards the room where they'd agreed to meet with the other commanding officers upon Cody's arrival. Wolf was already there with Cody and one other familiar face.

Lydecker.

"Kestrel's on her way," Wolf reported. Max nodded, acknowledging the information.

"How's it going, Cody?" she asked, glancing at the chocolate-skinned female who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Considering the amount of bodies piling up, not so great," Cody replied. "Sounds like Sari had her work cut out for her last night."

"With that in mind, a status report would be appreciated for those of us who've been confined," Lydecker interjected smoothly.

"You'll hear it when everyone else does," Max told him, sparing him a cursory glance. "Alec went to get Sari and we're still waiting on Kes. Once they're here, we'll debrief."

The minutes ticked by and Alec arrived with the blonde medic by his side, leaving just one person missing.

"All right, let's get this party started," Kestrel declared as she closed the door behind her, the last member of the group to arrive. She took her place beside Wolf.

"Everyone in the infirmary is stable," Sari advised them, jumping in immediately. "I've got some of the X6s watching them until Cody gets down there."

"All right, good," Alec said, his gaze shifting from one medic to the other. "Cody? Report."

"Seeing as how we're having some loyalty issues right now, I wanted to do this in person instead of over the phone in case the lines were tapped," Cody explained, pulling a large envelope out of her backpack. She emptied the contents onto the table – a sheaf of papers and a stack of Polaroids secured with a rubber band.

"What have you got?" Max prompted her.

"Wounds that don't add up," Cody replied, passing around the photographs. "On the surface, all of the bodies seem to have identical injuries but when you look closer, there are some differences. Primarily… claw marks."

"Claw marks?" Kestrel repeated, eyebrows rising.

"You heard me. With all the blood and tissue damage, it wasn't immediately obvious. I had to literally piece it together," Cody told them. She watched their faces as the full meaning sank in.

"Brax couldn't have done that," Alec murmured, swallowing hard as he stared down at the evidence. "Not unless he was armed with a knife or some other kind of bladed weapon."

"And we didn't find anything like that on him," Max confirmed. "He was bare-handed… covered in blood and he had a gunshot wound."

"The ballistics on that bullet matched Hyde's pistol," Kestrel informed them. "It was a through-and-through. The round was lodged in the wall but I was able to find some identical characteristics."

"So we know Hyde shot Brax. But why, if he wasn't the one attacking them?" Max continued.

"If Brax was there and feral… cornered with Ember and Hyde when someone else attacked…" Alec growled softly. "Hyde would have started shooting to try to defend himself. Brax could have gotten caught in the crossfire."

"That would have been enough to set Brax off if he was as far gone as you said he was," Cody confirmed. "Wounded animals are dangerous."

"So Brax didn't kill Ember…" Max breathed, her stomach twisting at the realization.

"I don't think so, no," Cody agreed, her expression full of regret.

"What about the others?" Alec asked quickly, the urgency in his eyes unmistakable.

"Lenny's wounds are different. DNA evidence I collected indicates that Brax killed him. There are some wounds on Hyde that match as well but the primary injuries are the same as Ember's."

Wolf's black-furred ears flattened back against his head.

"I thought Brax's wounds were consistent with attacking Ember," Max said in increasing consternation, turning challenging brown eyes on Sari.

"Not entirely," Sari conceded.

"And you didn't say anything?" Alec asked, aghast.

Sari pinned him with an icy look. "I had my hands a little full with Joshua, Syl and Jess. Crush wounds to the chest, a bullet to the head and a stopped heart respectively. Brax was under guard and in no danger of dying from any of his wounds. Besides, I wasn't informed of the decision to terminate him until _after_ the fact. If you'd bothered to let me know, I would have spoken up."

"Well, if Brax didn't do it, what the hell did?" Max snapped, her caramel skin paling.

It was Lydecker, who was examining the autopsy photographs intently, who answered her question without looking up, his expression grim.

"Wardogs."

Kestrel swore under her breath while Wolf's fur bristled. Alec stiffened, his entire body tensing, jaw clenching. Cody exchanged a loaded look with Sari and nodded.

"Wardogs?" Max echoed in consternation. "What the hell is a wardog?"

"A gossamer," Alec informed her. "The kind bred for termination."

"White had a pack of them," Lydecker told the group. "They must have set them loose to track us."

"An entire pack?" Alec sounded incredulous, not to mention alarmed but Max was frowning, her brow creased in thought.

"Then why did the bodies stop?" she said aloud, bringing everyone's attention squarely to bear on her slim form.

"What?" Cody asked, looking puzzled. Lydecker, on the other hand, looked rather pleased by the question.

"We had Brax in custody but if these wardogs are the ones doing the killing instead, why haven't we had more bodies turn up?" Max asked, glancing at the faces around her. "Why did they stop?"

"Wardogs aren't trained to stop," Lydecker said grimly. "Not until they've found and eliminated the target."

"And logically, White would have set them loose on you and Brax," Max nodded.

"So where are they?" Alec asked flatly, hazel eyes dark as he thought the situation over. "Why didn't they track them here? Something must have stopped them."

"Or contained them," Kestrel suggested.

"White?" Wolf asked.

"White had no way of knowing that we had Brax," Max mused, shaking her head. "The timing was too good... unless someone told him."

"You think he's working with someone," Alec realized, all but reading her mind. "Someone with access."

"Well, this just keeps getting better and better," Wolf muttered. "Boyd's at the top of my suspect list."

"Mine too," Kestrel agreed. "But we have to consider Fallon. She could be behind it and working with White or she might not even know about this. It could be someone else completely."

"We're going to drive ourselves crazy trying to figure this out," Wolf rumbled. "We don't have any solid leads."

A knock on the door distracted the group. Wolf opened it to find Vaughn standing there with a man standing behind him, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"He says it's urgent," Vaughn said by way of explanation.

"Logan?" Max frowned in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're not happy to see me," Logan replied, his expression flickering with regret as his blue eyes shifted from Max to Alec. The male X5 didn't say a word. He just watched the hacker, who had a small bag slung over his shoulder. "I uh… I have something to show you."

"Logan, this really isn't a good time," Max sighed, shaking her head.

"No, Max," Logan insisted stubbornly, clenching his jaw. "You really have to see this. Both of you do."

"Why? What is it?" Alec asked, finally speaking up as Logan's demeanor set alarm bells ringing in his mind.

Logan walked further into the room and set his bag down on the table with the photos and autopsy reports, digging out a case with a small data disc inside. He stepped over to the nearest computer and ejected the disc drive, booting up the contents.

Alec and Max exchanged a wary glance, instinctively bracing themselves for the worst.

"Logan, tell us what's going on," Max persisted as the screen came alive with the image of a section of the city. The Space Needle was barely visible in the distance. On one of the rooftops was a small pale-colored dot at the very edge and after a minute or so a figure emerged on the other side of the building.

"Matt Sung sent me this," Logan finally told them. "It was shot nine hours ago by a hoverdrone in Sector Eleven."

As everyone present watched, the hoverdrone approached the scene, zooming in at the same time.

* * *

"Fallon."

Vance's voice broke the female's concentration and she looked up to find her fellow X5 staring at a computer screen.

"Yeah?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't have interrupted her unless he'd thought it was important.

"We're picking up something off the HQ computer tap that I think you'll wanna see."

Intrigued, Fallon got to her feet and moved to flank Vance, her gaze focusing on the image being projected. It didn't take long, based simply off the size of one of the players and the coloring of the other, to figure out who they were watching.

"Well, well, well…" Fallon smiled and looked over at Vance. "Do we have popcorn?"


	51. The Dark Side

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals)

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **Holy shit, I'm so sorry for the delay.

**Chapter 51: The Dark Side**

**Sector Three**

Alec stepped closer, staring at the screen, his brow creasing into a frown.

"What the hell is this?" he muttered as he recognized the players. Alec would have recognized Jess anywhere, blonde hair or no. Like Max, she was indelibly imprinted on his mind. He watched as his sister stood up on the ledge and turned to face the combat model striding across the roof towards her. "Isn't that Zane?"

"Yeah," Max confirmed, a feeling of foreboding settling into her stomach. "That's him."

They watched as Jess moved towards Zane, her body language combative, taunting. Watched Zane let her get in his face, clearly trading verbal barbs. Alec found himself wishing the hoverdrone had gotten close enough to see their faces, their expressions… so he could read their lips, figure out what was being said. The tension between the two practically vibrated off the screen.

"Logan, what the hell…?" Max asked, sending a helpless, half-pleading glance to her former lover.

Logan's expression tightened and he bowed his head, unable to meet her eyes. Max's face fell, her eyes widening in alarm as her heart constricted and began an inexorable descent into her toes. Her dark gaze snapped back to the footage, to the scene playing out.

Zane leaned in and said something in Jess' ear as the female went rigid and moments later Alec's lungs seized as Zane stepped back, bloodied blade in hand. The terrible certainty, the instinctive knowledge of what he was about to witness sliced through him and the only coherent thought he could form was one word.

_No_.

"Oh my God," Max croaked, her hand coming up to cover her lips.

* * *

"Nice," Fallon smirked and a chorus of chuckles greeted the statement. The footage had garnered an audience quickly and now Vance, Abe and several others were ranged around the computer, watching avidly.

Boyd stood back from the group, observing in silence. The whole situation – one he was well aware that he'd helped to create – was starting to leave a bad taste in his mouth.

The combat model began circling the stealth as the viewers started laying down bets on how long Jess would last before Zane won the round. Thirty seconds, two minutes… The two X5s blurred and those watching let out raucous catcalls, laughing and jeering every time Zane landed a blow.

Until one pair of eyes caught sight of a detail she'd previously missed.

"Where the fuck is Zane?" Fallon said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Vance asked, startled out of his enjoyment of the video. "He's right there."

"Look at the fucking time signature," Fallon snapped, instantly focusing all attention on the digits in the corner of the screen.

Abe frowned. "Nine hours ago?"

Nine hours was more than enough time for Zane to bring Jess back to base, even if he had to carry her all the way and avoid the cops at the same time. She'd figured it would take time for Zane to run Jess to ground but clearly he'd done that long ago. So where the hell was he and where was her prisoner?"

"Don't tell me that piece of shit 09er lost," Fallon growled angrily.

* * *

"Kestrel…"

Max didn't have to go any further. Kestrel saw the look on the brunette's face, nodded and darted out of the door without a word to get a team together. Wolf's black fur had bristled, standing on end as his ears flattened against his head, but he too looked to Max, who shook her head. She turned her gaze back to her mate, who was standing absolutely still, watching mutely as Jess and Zane beat the living crap out of each other.

Max had fought her own kind, both on the outside and in training at Manticore. She knew the kind of power that an X5 could put behind each punch, each kick. So she flinched as Zane caught hold of Jess and his knife sank into her back, her stomach churning with every passing second.

Alec couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen. He'd literally stopped breathing, every frame burning itself into his memory. He was barely aware of Max coming to stand beside him, her shoulder pressing against his arm.

"Maybe we shouldn't watch any more –" Logan began tentatively even as Lydecker sent a speculative glance at the human hacker.

"Shut up," Alec rasped.

* * *

"Uh… you told him to bring her back alive, right, Boss?" Abe asked, his gaze skating over to Fallon, whose features were settling into a mask of fury. "Cause that doesn't look like the best way to keep her in one piece."

"_Ya think?_" Fallon snarled, rounding on the amphibious transhuman, who held his hands up in surrender.

She turned scorching eyes back to the display as Zane punched Jess hard enough to send her to her knees and manhandled her towards the side of the building, the blonde's efforts to defend herself growing weaker.

What the hell was Zane thinking? She'd told him to retrieve Jess, not slice and dice her. She'd wanted the pleasure of disposing of her mate's murderer herself but the time lapse and the footage she'd viewed so far was reducing the chances of that eventuality to virtually naught. Zane caught Jess by the back of the neck and drove a knee into her stomach.

Seconds later, Jess lunged and threw not only herself but her opponent over the side of the building.

"Find him," Fallon raged. "Now!"

* * *

The hoverdrone shifted position, automatically following the object of its attention down to the street where the two X5s were sprawled on the bitumen. Zane shifted first, rolling onto his back and getting awkwardly to his feet as Jess struggled into a sitting position.

Lydecker cocked his head slightly, watching the situation unfold with his customary detachment. Steely blue eyes shifted to take in the reactions of his kids, standing around the room in various states of horror and disbelief.

The X5 male on the screen reached down and hauled the female to her feet, backing her up against the wall without once breaking his stranglehold. Seconds ticked by, broken only by the pounding heartbeats every transgenic in the room could hear. Zane leaned in and Jess finally crumpled and didn't move again, even as her attacker put his fingers against her pulse-point and left the scene.

The footage cut to static and the entire room remained silent as every eye turned to Alec. He was staring at the screen, his expression unreadable, his eyes flat and cold.

"Did he kill her?" Alec asked tautly, speaking between clenched teeth.

"Alec…" Max began but Alec exploded.

"_Did he kill her?!_"

* * *

"Yes."

The voice that answered the question made Fallon's brown eyes blaze and she looked up to glare at the X5 male lounging in the doorway. Zane had the gall to look smug as the brunette advanced on him, throwing a punch that split open the stitches in his cheek.

"You violated our agreement," Fallon bit out. "You were supposed to bring her here!"

"I don't like to play with my food," Zane replied, touching the blood oozing from his cheek. "You wanted her dead. She'd dead."

"Fine. Consider your sister dead," Fallon snapped viciously, signaling to Vance.

"You're not going to touch her," Zane stated calmly.

"No, you're right. I'm going to shoot her," Vance pointed out helpfully.

Zane walked up to his fellow combat model, towering over him by several inches. "I just killed Jess and I actually used to give a shit about her," he said, his voice a menacing whisper. "So what do you think I'm going to do to you if you so much as _look_ at Max wrong?"

"I'd like to see you try," Vance replied, shifting slightly under Zane's stare.

"Real smart move getting yourself caught on camera," Fallon said harshly, advancing on him so that he was forced to take a step back. "Are you fucking deficient as well as suicidal?"

"What are you talking about?" Zane asked, frowning down at her in blatant confusion.

Abe idly turned the screen around so Zane could see it, frozen on the final image of himself leaving the scene of the crime. "Hoverdrones, shortbus," the transhuman said with a sly look of satisfaction. "You just made the Seattle PD's most wanted list."

"Murder one," Fallon purred, eyes glinting maliciously. "And if you think they want you bad, just think about what your precious little sister must be thinking right now? Take your pick, Zane. Who do you wanna get killed by? Me? Max? _Alec_? I'll bet he'd love to do the honors."

"They've seen that?" Zane asked warily.

"Damn right they have," Fallon confirmed, relishing the moment as some of Zane's bravado faltered.

"Where do you think that's being streamed from, genius?" Abe replied. "Tapped the HQ mainframe."

* * *

"Alec!"

Max chased her mate as he stalked down the hall, his features set in stone.He didn't seem to hear her, so intent was he on a goal that only he was privy to, the various inhabitants of the safehouse scattering out of his path.

"Alec, what are you doing?" she demanded, her voice laced with apprehension as she arrived at his side. When he didn't slow, Max grabbed hold of his arm only to have him wrench it free, his progress unhindered. "Alec, stop!"

"Why? Zane didn't," Alec growled, fury sparking in his green-gold eyes.

"We don't know what happened up there," she persisted, knowing even as she spoke the words that they were going to have a fight. She'd just watched her brother slaughter Alec's sister, yet no matter how much she wanted to cry or scream or comfort Alec as he did the same, an argument was coming about instead.

"_We don't know what happened?_" Alec echoed angrily, rounding on her so swiftly she almost skidded to a stop. "He killed my sister!"

"So you're going to take away my brother?"

Max's voice hitched, as much from the misery of such an impossible situation as from her own terrible grief. Tears burned behind her eyes and she sternly blinked them back. They hadn't just lost Jess. Zane was gone in all the ways that mattered and it hurt to think that her brother could have done such a thing, knowing what the infuriating blonde had meant to Alec.

Alec's expression cracked and he spun away from her, moving towards the door and the outside world, ignoring Max as she continued following him.

"Get away from me," he bit out.

"Alec –"

He answered her with a snarl before he slammed the door behind him.

"_Stay the fuck away from me_."

* * *

"So what do you think, Zane?" Fallon continued, looking delighted beyond reason as Vance and Abe flanked her, effectively surrounding the 09er in a loose semi-circle. "Feel like running? It's what you and your siblings do best, right?"

Zane held his ground, brandy brown eyes fixed on the brunette.

"Not that it'll make a difference," she informed him, smirking wickedly. "Not after that little performance. They'll already be coming straight to us, all righteous and out for your blood, and all I have to do is wait for them to show up. Bye bye, Maxie…"

"I told you already," Zane reiterated, his hackles rising. "She's off-limits."

"Please," Fallon said with a self-satisfied grin. "She's practically gonna be gift-wrapped and my pets are getting hungry. The redhead was a bit stringy. I think you'll make a good appetizer."

"You don't wanna kill me, Fallon," Zane informed her. "You need me."

"I _need_ you?" Fallon scoffed. "And what exactly is it that you think you have to offer?" Fallon sneered.

"Just me," Zane said simply, meeting her eyes.

"You?" she scoffed. "What good is a fucking 09er to me?"

"This fucking 09er spent ten years evading Manticore. He just killed someone you didn't have the stones to hunt yourself. Work it out."

"If you're so efficient, what exactly delayed you for nine hours?" Fallon hissed scathingly. "Don't tell me you're into necrophilia?"

"Dumping a-hundred-and-twenty pounds of dead X5 where no-one'll find it," he replied sardonically. "You try it after getting thrown off the top of a six-storey building."

Fallon ran a clinical eye over Zane, taking in the colorful array of bruises and lacerations, the slight limp he couldn't quite hide. He'd taken a beating, no doubt about it. Anyone who'd said that women were the weaker sex had never met an X5 female.

"Looks like she gave you hell," Fallon sneered.

"Well, if taking Jess down was so easy, your mate would still be alive now, wouldn't he?" Zane replied, watching the jibe hit home in the way Fallon's expression flooded with fury. She drew her pistol and leveled it at his head, the barrel pressing against his nose.

"Guess I'll have to settle for the consolation prize," she sniped as her finger pulled the trigger and Zane ducked out of the bullet's path. The projectile grazed his ear, ricocheting off the wall and forcing Abe to duck for cover, swearing under his breath.

"Fine. You wanna do this the hard way? Zane growled.

Abe was the first to attack and the first to go down, the 09er pinning him to the ground with a boot on his windpipe. Fallon blinked at the injured X5 who'd overpowered the transhuman and reconsidered.

* * *

Alec walked away from the safehouse as fast as he could without breaking into a run, his guts twisting themselves into knots with every step. He was vaguely aware of Vaughn and Stone shadowing him, following at a discreet distance. Protecting him, of all things.

What a fucking joke, when in the end it hadn't been him who'd needed protection.

He raked a hand through his hear, his jaw clenching as the litany of loss, pain and betrayal echoed in his head. Biggs. Ember. Mole. Brax. Jett. Rand... and now Jess.

_Oh God, Jessie_…

Sick to his stomach, Alec fought down the urge to punch the nearest brick wall until his hands bled. Rage coiled inside him; rage against Zane, against Fallon, against Boyd and Abe and every other X who'd turned traitor.

_Not Jess. Not her, not her, not her_…

Soldiers don't cry. That had been drilled into him since he was old enough to understand. Yet he'd sat by Rachel's bedside and he hadn't been able to stop himself. So it was strange that despite the grief crawling through his veins, his eyes weren't wet. Instead they were hard, the anger building behind them as the image of Jess falling lifeless onto the pavement replayed over and over again in his mind.

Alec finally came to a halt, not knowing or caring how far he was from the safehouse, and screamed every vestige of fury, frustration and pain out into the early morning light.

Back at the safehouse, Max heard the roar, and shuddered.


	52. Leave the Pieces

**Disclaimer: I don't own 'em (unless they're originals). Please don't sue me. It's **_**so**_** not worth it.**

**A/N: **OMG! 1000 reviews! I love you guys to bits!

**Chapter 52:**** Leave the Pieces**

**Sector Six**

Fallon regarded Zane with a hint of reluctant respect in her brown eyes as he stripped the pistol he'd taken from Abe and pocketed the magazine, casting the pieces of the weapon aside so that they clattered onto the floor. She quirked an eyebrow, evaluating what she'd just seen. 09er or not, Zane had a valid point about his skills. He'd killed Jess and, despite his injuries, had taken Abe down faster than she liked.

It wouldn't be the first time she'd put a stay on someone's execution if she found a purpose for them. She hadn't gotten to where she was by going off half-cocked. That was how Cain had gotten himself killed.

"Vance," she said steadily. "You and the boys take him out back. In one piece."

The hulking X5 shot Zane a disgruntled look but didn't argue. She knew what he was thinking. He'd been looking forward to the opportunity to put a bullet into Max and being delayed didn't sit well with him.

Zane cautiously backed off of Abe, letting the transhuman get to his feet, and allowed the troupe of other X-soldiers to escort him away.

"What are you thinking?" Abe asked, scowling as he rubbed at his throat. "You should have put him down."

"Noted," Fallon said briskly, staring the transhuman down as Boyd's phone chirped. He glanced at the screen and strode away to take the call, leaving Fallon with Abe.

"You can't trust him," Abe persisted.

"Who said anything about trust?" Fallon replied with a roll of her eyes. "He didn't keep up his end of the bargain. I'm not about to forget that. But in the meantime, I'll take any leverage I can get."

* * *

"Sari?" Boyd held the phone to his ear once he was a sufficient distance away that he couldn't be overheard, his mate's voice calming him like nothing else could.

"_Don't 'Sari' me, you son of a bitch_," she said scathingly. "_Did Fallon order Jess' death?_"

Boyd opened his mouth but nothing came out, which the blonde accurately interpreted as a confirmation.

"_She wasn't supposed to be killing people, Boyd!_" Sari snapped, her tone making him flinch. She never shouted. Not ever. "_You listen to me. You get out now or you don't come home. Understand? I've had it with this shit. I will take Kyp and I will leave, got it?_"

Boyd froze as the ultimatum sank in. "Sari, don't you dare! You're not going anywhere and you're not taking our son away from me!"

"_Watch me_," Sari shot back. "_This isn't a campaign for command. It's a bloodbath_. _Max had to disavow Zane and now Alec's gunning for him. Do you have any idea of the shit-storm we just got dumped in?_"

"It's complicated."

"_I'm sure it is. Goodbye_."

"Sari, wait –" Dial tone greeted him and a chill snaked its way down his spine. "Fuck! Sari!"

* * *

"I thought you would've wanted his head blown off," Vance said curiously when he returned. "He disobeyed you."

"Oh, I do," Fallon assured him, "but for now he's useful."

"How's that? He's banged up and he's still protecting his sister. Sounds like he's still got one foot on the other side of the line to me."

"So?" Fallon shrugged. "Think about it. One of Max's precious 09er siblings turns on her and allies himself with us instead. How does that look to everyone under her command? If she can't control her own brother, can she really be trusted to lead?"

Abe smiled in understanding. "Undermining her command without lifting a finger. Not bad."

"It's all about PR, boys," she advised them as Boyd returned, looking grimmer than ever.

"That was Sari," he informed her. "Looks like Max just changed the locks on your boy Zane."

Making a few quick revisions, Fallon nodded slowly. After all, there was no reason she couldn't use Zane and kill him afterwards. She examined Boyd's expression and quickly surmised the source of his obvious tension.

"I take it your girl doesn't approve of my methods."

"She just threatened to take Kyp."

"Sounds like she needs an attitude adjustment," Fallon replied, meeting Boyd's eyes. "Set her straight." The X5 male didn't miss the inherent threat in her words and he backed up fast, his phone already in his hand.

"You're in a weird mood, Boss."

"I don't need Boyd anymore anyway," Fallon shrugged. "He did what I wanted him to do. This is working out better than I could have planned for."

"So Zane's your new Trojan Horse?" Abe grunted. "Sounds risky to me."

"Maybe but that's not all," she said smugly. "I think it's time the rest of or transgenic brethren found out what happened to Brax… and that he wasn't entirely responsible for all those oh-so-tragic deaths."

Abe shook his head in admiration. "You're evil, you know that?"

"Leak the word on Brax," Fallon commanded with relish, "and loose the hounds."

**Sector Three****, a Short Time Later…**

Alec didn't speak a word to anyone when he finally walked back into the safehouse.

Numb. That was pretty much the only word that covered how he felt. It was like his connection to the world had been snapped and he was watching everything from a distance; like it was a television show he couldn't get into.

One of the simian transhumans pointed him in the right direction and Alec nodded, ignoring the stares directed at him. He buried his grief, walling it up with every other nightmare-worthy experience he'd ever had, and moved towards the room Max had retreated to.

He kept telling himself that she'd lost just as much as he had. She'd lost her brother… but it wasn't the same. Zane was still alive. His body wasn't left to rot in a Seattle back alley. The thought of it made his lungs hurt as he breathed but none of it reached his expression.

_You're a CO. Act like it_. The mantra repeated over and over in his head, the only thing keeping him from throwing caution to the wind and hunting down Zane like that goddamn dog that trailed around with him.

Repression; a skill for life. He turned to knob and stepped into the room his mate had retreated to. Se didn't even look up at him, knowing exactly who was intruding.

"I disavowed Zane," she said flatly, no hint of her feelings on the subject coloring her tone. "They all know he's a traitor."

Alec studied the tense set of her shoulders, the taut way she moved about her makeshift office, flipping through files and security reports.

"Kestrel took some people to check out the crime scene." She was speaking mechanically, shutting down the emotional core like she did every time someone or something wounded her. It was a reflex; something all the Manticore alumni were adept at.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you."

The admission was quiet and she heard the emotion behind it. He was apologizing. Again. For the last week it seemed that all they did was fight and make up and she was sick of it. He was hurting. He'd just lost someone he loved – yet another in a long line – and he'd reacted badly. She couldn't fault him for that. She'd have probably taken his head off too if their positions were reversed. She'd probably have punctuated the shouting with a few punches, come to think of it.

Max hadn't really liked Jess. That had never been a secret. But she hadn't wished the girl dead.

The knowledge that Zane was responsible weighed heavily on her slender shoulders. She didn't understand what had happened. He'd been so laid-back, so easygoing when he'd first arrived. She couldn't fathom what had changed him; what had triggered the emergence of the ruthless soldier that had swallowed up the brother she'd loved. All he'd wanted was to find Zack – a wish she couldn't grant him.

The fact that Jess had walked around with Eva's face wasn't enough. He hadn't had a problem with Alec. But there had been no reason for Zane to target Jess the way he did. Like Alec, she'd spent the last decade under Manticorean control.

Nothing added up.

"Forget it," she said, softening her tone a little. She still didn't look at him. She was lost and angry. She felt betrayed and vulnerable and a host of other things she didn't want to think about. Worse, she felt like she was being disloyal to him and she raged against it. There was a part of her that wanted to hold him and never let go, to comfort and be comforted, but at the same time there was another Max screaming to get out – one that wanted to track Zane down and beg him to explain what had driven him to do it. That Max couldn't look Alec in the eye.

Alec stepped closer and Max went completely still, half-afraid that he'd try to touch her. She didn't know what she'd do if he did. Would she break down? Would she unleash all the fury of her temper on him? Would she run?

In the end, he kept his hands to himself.

"Where's Deck?"

* * *

It didn't take long to locate the former Colonel, who had been put to work with the security team, the idea being that he could see what was going on and advise while being closely monitored at the same time. Alec locked eyes with the unit's officer-in-charge and they immediately cleared the room, closing the door behind them.

"You knew, didn't you?" Alec stated coldly, watching Lydecker with glacial hazel eyes. "You knew Brax didn't slaughter those people."

Lydecker nodded, his gaze never leaving the transgenic. "I knew," he confirmed. "The wardogs have a distinctive kill pattern. Brax's was similar, which is only natural given his mental state, but there were sufficient differences to set the Gossamer's victims apart from the X6 and X4."

"Their names were Lenny and Hyde," Alec corrected him icily, his tone brooking no argument. "Why did you insist on killing him when you knew?"

"It was necessary," Lydecker replied, as unruffled as ever. "Regardless of the fact that he didn't kill as many people as you thought he did, the fact remains that he did kill. He killed every Familiar in his path to escape the base. He killed two of your people – Lenny and Hyde. The number of victims doesn't change the simple fact that he was irretrievable."

"You couldn't know that!" Alec shot back.

"I do know that," Lydecker said simply. "Brax wasn't the first X-series soldier to break, whether it was from training or torture. The entire X2 class had to be put down with only four exceptions and all attempts to reverse their condition failed. Whether you want to accept the reality of the situation or not, Brax was too dangerous to be kept alive. You don't have the facilities or available manpower to safely contain something like him."

"We could have found a way," Alec insisted angrily.

"I taught you better than to let emotion rule your thought-processes," Lydecker admonished him. "It's done and it can't be changed. Now move on and focus on your immediate situation, soldier… before you lose any more people than you already have."

* * *

"Max, what the hell's going on?" Krit demanded, his brown eyes – so like her own – darkening with anxiety as he strode into the room scant minutes after Alec left in search of their former commander. "Cody said Zane's gone off the reservation, that he turned traitor. What the fuck happened? Where is he?"

Max turned to face her brother and pursed her lips before she spoke.

"Zane killed Jess."

The words were stark and stopped Krit dead in his tracks.

"He did _what?_" Krit echoed, confusion flashing across his face. "That's crazy –"

"It's true," Max said stiffly, folding her arms across her chest. "Hoverdrone caught him."

Krit's arguments died before he could speak them. He stared down at her, disbelief coloring his expression. Max just gazed at him, swallowing hard as she watch the knowledge seep into his bones. He shook his head.

"No way," he denied, shaking his head. "Not after Syl. He wouldn't jeopardize –"

"Well, he did," Max cut him off in a flash of temper. "You don't believe me, watch the goddamn tape." She gestured towards the data-disc sitting on her desk. Krit's dark eyes flickered over the evidence, his expression stricken.

"Where is he?" he asked again, sounding strangled.

"We don't know," Max admitted, sounding and feeling infinitely weary. "It was almost ten hours ago. He's probably long gone by now."

"Why?" Krit asked, not understanding any better than she did. "Why would he do it?"

"I don't know," she confessed, her voice hitching as she met her brother's wounded gaze. "I wish I did…"

Krit bowed his head and reached out to Max, pulling his baby sister into his arms. She didn't fight it. She just buried her head in his chest, letting his arms enfold her.

* * *

Alec ambled through the infirmary, ignoring Cody as she watched him pass, and slipped behind the curtain that shielded Rand from view. He collapsed into the worn chair, scrubbing his hands over his weary face. He ran his eyes over the prone form of his friend and sucked in a deep, ragged breath before letting it out slowly.

"Hey, pal," he said softly, unconsciously echoing the words Rand had spoken to Brax. "I need to talk to you."

The silence seemed to loom, thunderous in presence as it stretched on.

"You know, uh… I was never supposed to lead," he murmured, swallowing hard. "That was your shtick. Yours and Brax's. I followed orders. Responsibility wasn't my thing. I don't know how you two did for all those years. How do you deal with it when everything goes to hell under your command?" He paused, swallowed hard. "How do you deal with losing people?"

He gazed at Rand's ashen face.

"He killed her," Alec choked out, his voice cracking. "Zane killed Jess."

He couldn't stand that he was talking to a man who couldn't hear him.

"Wake up, damn it," Alec growled, green-gold eyes blazing as he stared at his friend. "Wake the _fuck_ up. You're not supposed to just lie there. It's not you and I _hate_ it. You're too stubborn for this shit. You protected Jessie for months. Hell, you took the time to figure out what goes –" He broke off, the knowledge that the present tense no longer applied crashing over him. "What _went_ on in her head," he corrected himself. "We need you, damn it."

Alec's fists clenched and he resisted the urge to reach out and hit Rand. Something – _anything_ – to get a reaction.

"Please wake up," Alec begged, what little composure he had deserting him.

There was no answer. Nothing except for the quiet rhythm of Rand's heartbeat.


End file.
